ADOLF HITLER
MEIN KAMPF
Complete and Unabridged
FULLY ANNOTATED
EDITORIAL SPONSORS
John Chamberlain
Sidney B. Fay
John Gunther
Carlton J. H. Hayes
aham Mutton
in Johnson
iam L Langer
Iter Millis
ul de Roussy de Sales
oige N. Shuster
REYNAL A HITCHCOCK
1941 NEW
COPYRIGHT, IQ39. BY HOUGBTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCE
THIS BOOK OR PARTS THEREOF IN ANY FORM
COPYRIGHT, Ip2S, BY VERLAG FRZ. EHER NACHF. G.m.D.H.
COPYRIGHT, Z927. BY VERLAG FRZ. EHER NACHF. G.m.b.H.
This Edition is published by ar-
rangement with Hough ton Mifflin
Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
NINETEENTH
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
PUBLISHERS' NOTE
BOTH the international situation and certain pub-
lishing exigencies have dictated the preparation of
this book at a far higher rate of speed than we should
have liked. We wished it editorially to be, and we believe
it is, a fine, scholarly, genuinely definitive edition of an
enormously important book. If small errors have crept in,
and we think even those are few and far between, they are
due solely to the pressure of time.
We cannot possibly thank here by name all those who
have assisted in the task. The work could not have been
possible without the devoted help of our editorial commit-
tee, and notably Dr. Alvin Johnson, who has been a tower
of strength in many directions. To Mr. George N. Shuster,
who has labored with unwearying effectiveness night and
day for many weeks, our debt is incalculable. Mr. Helmut
Ripperger, on whom a heavy burden has fallen, and various
friends and helpers at the New School for Social Research
have likewise given without stint of their time and energy
to the translation. Mr. C. H. Hand, Jr., will not like to
find himself thus singled out, but we cannot overlook the
tribute we owe him for his constant effective aid. Two
other special friends of the enterprise who have been of
enormous help, but who by their own wish shall be name-
less, we none the less wish here to thank anonymously.
Finally, to Houghton MifHin Company we wish to extend
our hearty salutations. We should never ask for more fair-
minded or resourceful collaborators in a publishing enter-
prise.
E. R.
C. N. H.
INTRODUCTION
THIS is an accurate translation of a book which is
likely to remain the most important political tract of
our time, and which is now for the first time avail-
able in complete form to the American reader. Until now
the only version of M ein Kampf in English has been a con-
densation of the complete book, published in 1933, con-
taining less than half of the total text.
The Austrian and Czecho-Slovakian crises of last year,
culminating for the moment in the pact of Munich, have
awakened the American public as never before to the
seriousness to the world and to themselves of the Nazi
program, and consequently to the possible significance of
every page of the book that can justly be regarded as the
Nazi gospel. Here, then, in its entirety, for the American
people to read and to judge for themselves, is the work
which has sold in Germany by the millions, and which is
probably the best written evidence of the character, the
mind, and the spirit of Adolf Hitler and his 'government.
There are undoubtedly passages of great importance
which now appear in English for the first time. For exam-
ple, Chapter V of the condensed version left out the whole
of what Hitler describes as his wartime reflections on
propaganda and on methods for fighting Marxism. We
have marked at various points in the text the important
new material. Furthermore, any abridgment must neces-
sarily fail, in proportion to the degree of its condensa-
tion, to give the full flavor of the author's mind. Even
the repetitions have their significance in conveying a sense
of the character behind them. Mein Kampf is, above all, a
book of feeling.
vlii INTRODUCTION
All this is in no sense a condemnation of the abridgement
prepared by E. T. S. Dugdale in England and published
under the title My Battle, as in 1933 it seemed most un-
likely that any large American public would care to read
Mein Kampf as a whole, and for its time and purpose it was
undoubtedly adequate. Since then the whole book has as-
sumed a more urgent character.
The translation here offered is from the first German edi-
tion — the two volumes respectively of 1925 and 1927,
which are now quite difficult to obtain. Continuous refer-
ence hks been made, however, to later editions, and any
changes of significance have been noted. Such changes are
not as extensive as popularly supposed.
The reader must bear in mind that Hitler is no artist in
literary expression, but a rough-and-ready political pam-
phleteer often indifferent to grammar and syntax alike.
Departures from normal German form have not been re-
produced, since no purpose would be served thereby, but
where the demands of a perfectly smooth English style
might seem to conflict with exactness of meaning, the
original German forms have been followed as literally as
possible. We believe the translation cannot be successfully
challenged.
We turn to our decision to annotate the text. Mein
Kampf is frequently a difficult book for the American reader
to understand. Few Americans are, in the very nature of
things, so aware of the German historical background that
they can surmise without help what the author is discuss-
ing. What, for example, was meant by 'interest slavery1?
And who was Leo Schlageter? In making annotations of
this kind, we have tried to adhere to a middle course, as-
suming some familiarity with Nazi history, but leaving very
recondite information for scholars. Notes of this kind are
based almost exclusively on German sources, and we be-
Ifeve we can vouch for their accuracy and objectivity.
INTRODUCTION 1»
Then, too, Mein Kampf is a propagandistic essay by a
violent partisan. As such it often warps historical truth and
sometimes ignores it completely. We have, therefore, felt
it our duty to accompany the text with factual information
which constitutes an extensive critique of the original.
No American would like to assume responsibility for giving
the public a text which, if not tested in the light of diligent
inquiry, might convey the impression that Hitler was writ-
ing history rather than propaganda. It is more probable,
however, that we shall have to face the opposite criticism
— that we have been too impartial, too objective, too little
concerned with rebuttal. To this we should like to reply
that truth, the accurate truth, is the only argument which
in the long run prevails. One may talk a fact out of exist-
ence for a time, but it somehow survives. We are prepared
to rest our case as editors on our belief in that ultimate
triumph.
One point in particular may need emphasis. Large por-
tions of Mrin Kampf are devoted to the question of race as
a substructure on which to erect an anti-Semitic policy.
We have not let these passages go unchallenged, but we
have also not felt it necessary to include a discussion of race
of our own invention. The greatest anthropologists of the
twentieth century are agreed that 'race' is a practically
meaningless word. All one can legitimately do, therefore,
is to challenge statements of 'race history' as being fig-
ments of the imagination, and to point out that they are at
bottom more or less subtle ways of supporting still more ab-
solute and violent forms of nationalism than even the nine-
teenth century knew. In addition we have made specific
objections to Hitler's anti-Semitic statements where they
contradict known historical facts.
A word now concerning the method adopted for the pre-
sentation of the notes. As a rule we have put information
relative to the sources and origins of National Socialism
* INTRODUCTION
into the first volume, reserving for the second volume the
history of Hitler's rise to power and of German achievement
since that time. Departures from this method have been
made when a given point seemed explainable in no other
way. This arrangement will enable the reader, should he so
desire, to read the notes independently of the text itself.
Naturally these notes are not designed to form a treatise on
Hitlerism, but if they were read together with the books
mentioned by name, they should provide a fairly adequate
history of the Third Reich* Most of the notes are set in
close proximity to the passage to which they refer. In a
few instances, however, it seemed important to write at
greater length, so that the material appears in the form of
an appendix to the chapter in question. The separation be-
tween text and commentary is clearly indicated, so that the
reader will have no difficulty on that score.
In conclusion, what should one expect to learn from Mein
Kampf? Read with a clear eye, the book will show what
manner of man Der Ftihrer is — one who as a boy had
nothing excepting a passionate belief that Germany must
obtain a larger place in the sun with the help of the sword
once wielded so efficiently by Prussian kings; who learned
to define to his own satisfaction what groups wanted this
kind of Germany, and what other groups were indifferent
or opposed to that ideal ; who after the War gathered round
him all those who refused to concede that defeat neces-
sarily meant the end of German expansion; and who,
finally, with their help, got control of the government and
then set out to mobilize the whole nation for a new advance.
Before the War he lived in Austria and felt that the
Habsburgs, by making concessions to the Slavic groups in
their empire, were putting the German group on a level
with others and therefore lessening its willingness to dom-
inate. Therefore, he wanted the German group to get rid
of the Habsburgs and join forces with the greater Prussian
INTRODUCTION id
Germany. After the War he felt that the leaders of the Re-
public, by seeking to bring about internal reconciliation
and by making concessions to the Allies, were doing exactly
what the old Habsburgs had done, excepting that this time
it was not Austrian Germany but the holy of holies, Prussia
itself, that was being weakened. To those who said that it
was war which had sapped the substance of Germany, and
that another war would end European civilization, he re-
plied that it was only 'eternal peace' which destroyed peo-
ples and that neither the individual nor society could escape
Nature's decree that the fittest alone survive.
Yet this simple philosophy is by no means the whole
Hitler. He has added to it the moving force which, re-
vealed both in his struggle for power and in his use of that
power since 1933, is the most startling phenomenon of our
time. Only the leaders of the Mohammedan, French, and
Russian revolutions have aroused a comparable driving
power, and at present it dominates Europe. The forces in
opposition have lacked the clearness of plan, the unity of
motive, the certainty of conviction, needed to make their
cause prevail.
The engines of industry now spin round in trepidation,
and the engines of war are piled giddily in higher and
higher pyramids. Already in Europe, the last are all that
really count — the others work to create an illusion and to
help meet the staggering costs. There is no stopping them
until there are in the world ideas or ideals which are stronger
than that contained in Mein Kampf. It is our profound
conviction that as soon as enough people have seen through
this book, lived with it until the facts they behold are so
startlingly vivid that all else is obscure by comparison, the
tide will begin to turn.
We have all of us the deepest regard for the German peo-
ple. Some of us have given a good deal of time and energy
to the study of just German demands and to the fostering
xii INTRODUCTION
of better understanding of the German tradition. None of
us has abandoned the sincere belief that Germany is des-
tined to be a great and cherished member of the family of
peoples. So we have elected to set down without malice,
yet with all the truth we can muster, the record as we
see it.
JOHN CHAMBERLAIN
SIDNEY B. FAY
JOHN GUNTHER
CARLTON J. H. HAYES
GRAHAM HUTTON
ALVIN JOHNSON
t WILLIAM L. LANGER
WALTER MILLIS
R. DE ROUSSY DE SALES
GEORGE N. SHUSTER
DEDICATION
ON NOVEMBER 9, 1923, at 12.30 in the afternoon, in front
of the Feldherrnhalle as well as in the courtyard of the
former War Ministry, the following men, steadfast in their
belief in the resurrection of their people, were killed :
ALFARTH, Felix, businessman, b. July 5, 1901
BAURIEDL, Andreas, hatter, b. May 4, 1879
CASELLA, Theodor, bank employee, b. August 8, 1900
EHRLICH, Wilhelm, bank employee, b. August 19, 1894
FAUST, Martin, bank employee, b. January 27, 1901
HECHENBERGER, Anton, locksmith, b. September 28,;
1902
KOERNER, Oskar, businessman, b. January 4, 1875
KUHN, Karl, headwaiter, b. July 26, 1897
LAFORCE, Karl, student of Engineering, b. October
28, 1904
NEUBAUER, Kurt, valet, b. March 27, 1899
PAPE, Claus von, businessman, b. August 16, 1904
PFORDTEN, Theodor von der, County Court Council-
lor, b. May 14, 1873
RICKMERS, Johann, retired Cavalry Captain, b.
May 7, 1881
ScHEUBNER-RicHTER, Max Erwin von, Doctor of
Engineering, b. January 9, 1884
STRANSKY, Lorenz Ritter von, Engineer, b. March
14, 1889
WOLF, Wilhelm, businessman, b. October 19, 1898
So-called national authorities denied these dead heroes a
common grave.
Therefore I dedicate to them, for common memory, the
first volume of this work, as the blood witnesses of which
they may continue to serve as a brilliant example for the
followers of our movement.
ADOLF HITLER
LANDSBBRG ON THE LECH
PRISON OF THE FORTRESS
October 16, 1924
PREFACE
ON APRIL I, 1924, because of the sentence handed
down by the People's Court of Munich, I had to
begin that day, serving my term in the fortress at
Landsberg on the Lech.
Thus, after years of uninterrupted work, I was afforded
for the first time an opportunity to embark on a task
insisted upon by many and felt to be serviceable to the
movement by myself. Therefore, I resolved not only to
set forth, in two volumes, the object of our movement, but
also to draw a picture of its development. From this more
can be learned than from any purely doctrinary treatise.
That also gave me the opportunity to describe my own
development, as far as this is necessary for the understand-
ing of the first as well as the second volume, and which may
serve to destroy the evil legends created about my person
by the Jewish press.
With this work I do not address myself to strangers, but
to those adherents of the movement who belong to it with
their hearts and whose reason now seeks a more intimate
enlightenment. I know that one is able to win people far
more by the spoken than by the written word, and that
every great movement on this globe owes its rise to the
great speakers and not to the great writers.
Nevertheless, the basic elements of a doctrine must be
set down in permanent form in order that it may be repre-
sented in the same way and in unity. In this connection
these two volumes should serve as building stones which I
add to our common work.
THE AUTHOR
LANDSBERG ON THE LECH
PRISON OF THB FORTRESS
CONTENTS
Volume I
PUBLISHERS' NOTE v
INTRODUCTION vii
DEDICATION xiii
PREFACE xv
Chapter I
AT HOME 3
The Young Ringleader 7
Enthusiasm for War 8
Drawing Talent IO
Never State Official 12
But Painter 13
The Young Nationalist 15
The German Ostmark 15
The Fight for the German Nationality 16
History Lessons 1 8
History Favorite Subject 2O
The Habsburgs' Policy of Slavization 21
The Young Wagnerian 23
Father's Death ' 24
Mother's Passing Away 25
Chapter II
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING IN VIENNA ... 26
An Architect's Ability 27
Five Years of Misery 29
Th« Genius of Youth 30
Unsocial Vienna 31
The Contrasts 32
The Unskilled Worker 34
xviil CONTENTS
The Uncertainty of Making a Living 35
The Worker's Fate 36
The Perpetual Mirage of Hunger 37
Unfortunate Victims of Bad Social Conditions 37
The Nature of Social Activity 39
The Lack of ' National Pride ' 41
The Rats of Political Poisoning 42
Martyrdom of the Worker's Child 43
The Presupposition for - Nationalization ' 44
Arduous Study 44
The Art of Reading 46-49
Social Democracy 50
First Encounter with Social Democrats 5I~53
The Red Terror 53
The Social Democrat Press 54
The Psyche of the Masses 56
Tactics of Marxism 58
The Victims of the Red Tempters 59
The Sins of the Bourgeoisie 59
The Necessity of Union Activity 60
The Struggle for Power 62
Politization of the Unions 63
The Threatening Thundercloud 64
The Key to Social Democracy 66
The Jewish Question 66
The So-called World Press 68
Criticism of Kaiser Wilhelm II 70
The Greatest German Mayor 72
Is This Also a Jew? 73
The Zionists 74
The Spiritual Pestilence of Jewry 76
The Cunning of the 'World Press' 77
The Manager of Vice 78
The Jew as Leader of Social Democracy 78-~79
Jewish Dialectics 8 1
The Cosmopolite Changes into a Fanatical Anti-
Semite 83
Marxism and Nature 84
CONTENTS xlx
Chapter III
GENERAL POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS FROM MY TIME
IN VIENNA 85
The Politician 86
Political Thinking 87
Vienna's Last Rise 88
Germanity in Austria 89
Centrifugal Forces 96
The Tragic Guilt of the Habsburge 93
The Revolution of 1848 94
The Historical Liquidation of the Danube Monarchy 94
Parliamentarianism 95
The Soil of the Marxist World Plague 99
Lack of Responsibility IOO
The Leader and the Masses IO2
The Incompetents and the Babblers IO2
Hiding Behind the Majority 103
Lined up in a Queue 105
The Parliamentarian Profiteers 106
4 Public Opinion' 108
The Machine for Educating the Masses 108
The Cuttlefish I IO
The Will of the Majority 1 12
The Intellectual Demi-monde 1 14
The Gist of the Matter 115
Germanic Democracy 1 1 6
The Collapsing Dual Monarchy 119
The Pan -German Movement I2O
The Dreams of the Forefathers 121
The Rebellion of the German- Austrians 121
Human Rights Breaks State Rights 123
The Merit of the Pan-Germans in Austria 124
Schoenerer and Lueger 125-129
Pacifism of the German Bourgeoisie 130
The Fight Against Parliamentarism 132
Parliament and Peoples' Assembly 133
'Parliamentarians' Instead of Leaders 135
xx CONTENTS
The Magic of the Word 136
The Power of Speech 137
Mistakes of the Pan-German Movement 138
Religion and Politics 139
The Los-von-Rom Movement 140-152
Concentration 152
The Way of the Christian Social Party 153
A Splash of Baptismal Water 154
The Christian -Social Sham Anti-Semitism 156
Pan-German and Christian-Social 158
Rising Aversion Against the Habsburg State 159
The Old Mosaic Picture 1 60
The School of my Life 161-162
Chapter IV
MUNICH 163
Germany's Wrong Policy of Alliance 164
The Jugglery of the Triple Alliance 165
The Bearers of the Idea of the Alliance 1 66
Insane Attitude 167
The Four Ways of German Politics 169-179
Pyramids Standing on their Points 180
With England Against Russia 183
The Dream of World-Peace 185
With Russia Against England 1 88
4 Peaceful Economic ' Conquest — The Greatest
Folly 1 88
The Englishman as Seen by the German Cartoonist 189
The Inner Weakness of the Triple Alliance 190
Ludendorff on the Weakness of the Triple Alliance 192
The Jewish-Socialist War-Agitators Against Russia 193
The Tempting Legacy 193
Warnings from German Conservatives 194
The Nature of the State 195-201
Symptoms of Decay 201
The Years of Destruction 2OI
Prattling Quackery 203
CONTENTS xxi
Chapter V
THB WORLD WAR 204
The Impending Catastrophe 205
The Slav's Greatest Friend is Murdered 206
Austria's Ultimatum 206
The German Nation's Existence or Non-existence 207
The Meaning of the Struggle for Freedom 210
Joining a Bavarian Regiment 212
The Baptism of Fire 213
A Monument to Immortality 216
The Parliamentarian Prattlers 216
Drops of Wormwood in the General Enthusiasm 217
Misunderstood Marxism 2l8
What Was to be Done Now? 220
The Use of Force 221
Perseverance 222
The Attack Against the View of Life 223
The Same Rubbish 224
The Great Gap 225
Chapter VI
WAR PROPAGANDA 227
Propaganda a Means 228
The Purpose of Propaganda 229
Propaganda Only for the Masses 230
The Task of Propaganda 231-232
The Psychology of Propaganda 233
The Consequence of Half Measures 236
German Mania of Objectivity 237
Pacifistic Dishwater 238
Propaganda for the Masses 239
The Enemy's Propaganda 240
CONTENTS
Chapter VII
THE REVOLUTION 243
The Enemy's First Leaflets 245
Lamenting Letters from Home 246
The Poison on the Front 246
Wounded 247
Boasting of One's Own Cowardice 248
The Duty-Shirkers 249
The Most Ingenious Trick of the Jew 252
The Ammunition Strike — The Greatest Villainy 253
Russia's Collapse 256-257
The 'German ' Revolution Awaited Its Entry 258
The Result of the Ammunition Strike 258
The Front and the Political Rascals 260
Increase of the Decay 262
The Younger Reinforcements Fail 264
Poisoned by Mustard Gas 264
'Republic' 266
In Vain all the Sacrifices 267
Wretched and Miserable Criminals! 268
Scoundrels Are Without Honor 269
Chapter VIII
BEGINNING OF MY POLITICAL ACTIVITY . . . .277
Social Revolutionary Party 280-281
Gottfried Feder 282
The Task of the Program-Maker 283
Program-Maker and Politician 284
The Marathon Runners of History 286
Breaking of the Tyranny of Interest 287
The ' Instruction Officer ' 289-290
CONTENTS xxlii
Chapter IX
THB 'GERMAN WORKERS' PARTY' 291
'My Political Awakening* 296
The Board Meeting in the 'Alte Rosenbad9 297-298
The So-called ' Intelligentsia ' 300
The Seventh Member 301
Chapter X
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 302
Premonitory Symptoms of Collapse 3O3~~3°4
The Great Lie 306
The Culprits of the Collapse 307
Do Nations Perish by Lost Wars? 308
Among the Germans Every Third Man a Traitor 311
The Great Masters of Lying 313
Diseases of National Bodies 314
The Signs of Decay 315
The Idol of Mammon 316
Labor as the Object of Speculation 319
Half Measures — One of the Most Evil Symptoms
of Decay 322
The Gravediggers of the Monarchy 323
The Meaning of the Monarchy 324
The Cowards of 1918 326
Cowardice Towards Responsibility 327
Three Groups of Readers 328
The Pretended 'Freedom of the Press* 330
Mass Poisoning of the Nation 330
Tactics of the Jewish Press 331
The Result of Our Semi- Education 334
The ' Decent ' Press 335
Syphilis 336
The Miserable Products of Financial Expediency 337
The ' Defining of Attitude ' 338
CONTENTS
The Sin Against the Blood and the Degradation of
the Race 339
The Task of the Nation 341
Prostitution — A Disgrace to Mankind 342
Marriage Not an End in Itself 343
Education of Youth 345~346
Premature and Prematurely Old 348
One of the Most Colossal Tasks 349
The 'Protective Paragraph* 350
The Energy for the Fight for Health 351
The Bolshevism of Art 352
The Decay of the Theater 355
The Tainting of the Great Past 356
Meaning and Purpose of Revolutions 358
Intellectual Preparation for Political Bolshevism 359
'Inner Experience* 360
'Human Settlements' 360
Monuments of the Community 362
Department Store and Hotel — Characteristic Ex-
pression of Culture 363
The Religious Situation 364
Organic State Laws and Dogmas 366
Political Abuse of Religion 367
Without Political Aims 368
The Failure of Parliamentarism 369
Half-hearted Solutions 370
The Lie of the German ' Militarism ' 374
The 'Idea of Risk' 376
The Parliamentarian Head, the Misfortune of the
Navy 377
Villains, Scoundrels, Rascals, and Criminals 378
The German Advantages 380
Parade and Public Kitchen 381
The Stability of the State Authority 382
The Greatest Factor of Value — The Army 383
The Greatest School of the German Nation 384
The Incomparable Body of Officials 386
The State Authority 387
The Ultimate Cause of the Collapse 388
CONTENTS xxv
Chapter XI
NATION AND RACE 389
The Race 390-391
The Result of All Race-crossing 392
Man and Idea 394
Race and Culture 396
Life is a Struggle 397
Founders of Culture 398
The Mirror of the Past 400
The Ingenious Race 402
The Aryan is the Bearer of Cultural Development 404
The Loss of the Purity of the Blood 406
The Aryan's Will to Sacrifice Himself 407
Purest Idealism — Deepest Knowledge 41 1
The Aryan and the Jew 412
The 'Clever' Jew 412
Jewry's Instinct of Self-Preservation 414
Judaism's Sham Culture 416
The Jewish Ape 417
The Parasite 419
The First Great Lie 421
The Jewish Religion 422
Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion 423
The Development of Judaism 425
The Final Goal of Judaism 435
The ' Factory Worker ' 436
Employer and Employee 438
The Tactics of Judaism 440
The Nucleus of the 'Marxist* View of Life 441
The Organization of the Marxist World Doctrine 443
The Central Organization of International World
Cheating 447
Dictatorship of the Proletariat 449
The Great, Final Revolution 450
Bastardized Nations 452
The Sham Prosperity of the Old Reich 453
A Germanic State of the German Nation 457
xx* CONTENTS
Chapter XII
THE FIRST PERIOD IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NA-
TIONAL SOCIALIST GERMAN WORKERS' PARTY 456
A People Tom in Two Parts 457
The Lacking Will for Self -Preservation 459
The Winning of the Broad Masses 461
The Weak Momentum 462
The Best Property of the Nation 463
The Nationalization of the Masses 464
The Demands for This 465
The Smashing of Parliamentarianism 479
The Ingenious Idea 481
The Organization of the National Socialist Movement 482
Fanaticism 486
The Honorary Scar 488
Personality Cannot be Substituted 488
The Eternal Hands 489
The Speech Evening 490
The First Meeting 491
The First Success 492
Fight Against the Red Terror 494
The Second Meeting 495
The Shaping of the Young Movement 496
German Folkish Wandering Scholars 498
Folkish Comedians 499
'Folkish' 501
Spiritual Marches Against Berlin 502
The ' Spiritual Weapon ' 503
Folkish Moths 504
The First Great Mass Meeting 505
Fraternization Between Marxism and Center 507
Pfchner and Frick , 5°8
The Foundations of the Coming State 5IO
The Victory of the First Great Demonstration 512
The Coming Rise 515
POSTER APPENDIX 517
CONTENTS xxvii
Velum* II
Chapter I
VIEW OF LIFE AND PARTY 563
Bourgeois 'Program Committees' 564
From the Life of a 'People's Representative' 565
Marxism and Democratic Principle $68
View of Life Against View of Life 570
The Conception ' Folkish ' 573
From Religious Feeling to Apodictic Belief 575
From 'Folkish ' Feeling to Political Creed 576
From Creed to Community of Struggle 57^
Marxism Against Race and Personality 579
Folkish Attitude Towards Race and Personality 579
The Challenge of the Free Play of Forces 581
Condensation in the Party 582
Crystallization of a Political Creed 583
Chapter II
THB STATE 584
Three Reigning Conceptions of the State 585-587
False Notion of ' Germanization ' 588
Only Land Can Be Germanized 591
The State No End in Itself 592
Cultural Level Conditioned by Race 593
National Socialist Conception of the State 594
Viewpoints for Judging the State 596
Consequences of Our Racial Dismemberment 598
Mission of the German People 600
Task of the German State 6oi
World History is Made by Minorities 603
The Bastard Must Succumb 604
Natural Process of Regeneration of the Race 605
Danger of Race-Mixing 606
xxviil CONTENTS
'Folkish ' State and Race Hygiene 608
Race-pure Border Colonies 6lO
Call to German Youth 6ll
The Bourgeoisie's Lack of Energy 6l2
Healthy Body — Healthy Spirit 614
Educational Maxims of the ' Folkish ' State 615
The Value of Sports 616
Suggestive Force of Self -Confidence 618
Suggestive Force of United Action 618
Control Between School Age and Military Service
Age 619
The Army as Final and Highest School 620
Character Formation 621
Education in Discretion 622
Cultivation of Will Power and Determination 623
Fostering Readiness for Responsibility 625
Principles of Scientific Schooling 626
No Overburdening of the Brain 626
Principles of Language Instruction 627
Principles of History Instruction 628
General Training — Professional Training 630
Value of Humanistic Training 631
Current 'Patriotic* Education 632
Inspiring Force of Great Models 633
Awakening National Pride 633
Fear of Chauvinism is Impotence 636
Inculcation of a Racial Sense 636
Human Selection 637
Capability and Learning 638
Training Prodigies 640
State Selection of the Qualified 640
The Catholic Church's Link with the People 643
Appraisal of Work 645
Grading of Services 649
Ideal and Reality 650
CONTENTS mi*
Chapter III
SUBJECTS AND CITIZENS OF THE STATE .... 656
How One Becomes a Citizen Today 657
Citizens — State Subjects — Aliens 658
The State Citizen Master of the Reich 659
Chapter IV
PERSONALITY AND THE CONCEPTION OF THE NATIONAL
STATE 660
Construction on Aristocratic Principle 66 1
Rise of Human Culture 662
Personality and Progress of Culture 663
Value of Personality 664
The Majority Principle 666
Marxism Denies Personality 666
Marxism is Uncreative 668
The Best State Constitution 669
Advisory Chambers — Responsible Leaders 670
Towards the Future State 672
Chapter V
VIEW OF LIFE AND ORGANIZATION 673
Struggle and Criticism 674
Views of Life are Intolerant 676
Parties Seek Compromises 676
Community on the Basis of New View of Life 677
Leadership and Following- 678
Necessity of Guiding Principles 680
Formulation of Guiding Principles 68 1
Stability of Program 682
Spirit, Not Letter, Decides 683
National Socialism and Folkish Idea 684
THe Sham Folkish 685
xxx CONTENTS
Chapter VI
THE STRUGGLE OF THE EARLY DAYS — THE SIGNIFI-
CANCE OF THE SPOKEN WORD 695
Struggle Against Poisoning Propaganda 696
Against the Current 699
Politics at Far Sight 700
Oratorical Experiences 701
Enlightenment on the Peace Treaties 702
Speech More Effective than Writing 704
Psychological Aspects of Oratory 704
Oratory and Writing in the Service of Agitation 705
Psychological Conditions of Oratorical Effectiveness 709
Orators and Revolution 711
Printed Speech Disappoints 712
Bethmann and Lloyd George as Orators 712
Necessity of Mass Meetings 715
Significance of Community Feeling 715
Orators Who Break Down 716
Chapter VII
THE STRUGGLE WITH THE RED FRONT . . . 717
Bourgeois ' Mass Meetings ' 718
National Socialist Mass Meetings 720
The Equivocal Red Posters 721
Vacillating Tactics of the Marxists 723
Opponents Make Us Known 723
Law-Breaking Police Procedure 724
Psychologically Correct Rally Management 725
Marxist Rally Technique 726
Bourgeois Rally Technique 727
National Socialist Order Troops 729
Significance of the Unified Symbol 730
Old and New Black-Red-Gold 731
Old and New Reich Flag 733
The National Socialist Flag 734
CONTENTS xxxi
Interpretation of the National Socialist Symbol 736
The First Circus Rally 739
Rally After Rally 743
Futile Attempts at Disruption 746
The Meeting Continues 749
Chapter VIII
THE STRONG MAN is MIGHTIEST ALONE . . . 750
Right of Priority in a Movement 751
The Struggle for Leadership 753
Austria and Prussia 754
Causes of Folkish Dismemberment 757
The Formation of Joint Efforts 758
The Essence of Joint Efforts 760
The Collapse of Joint Efforts 762
Chapter IX
FUNDAMENTAL THOUGHTS ON THE MEANING AND THE
ORGANIZATION OF THE STORM TROOPS 764
The Three Pillars of Authority 764
The Three Classes of Folk Bodies 766
The Sacrifice of the Best 767
The Hyperfecundity of the Bad 768
Resulting Disorganization 770
Founding of the Free Corps 771
Misplaced Leniency to Deserters 773
Deserters and Revolution 773
Fear of the Front Soldiers 775
Collaboration of Left Parties 776
The Capture of the Bourgeois 777
Capitulation of the Bourgeois 779
Why Did the Revolution Succeed? 780
Passivity of the State Guardians 781
Capitulation to Marxism 782
xx*K CONTENTS
Breakdown of the National Parties 783
Without an Idea, No Force for Struggle 784
Advocacy of the Folkish Idea 786
Need for Guard Troops 787
Guarding the Nation, Not the State 790
Self-Protection, Not 'Defense League' 791
Why No Defense Leagues 792
Impossibility of Proper Drilling 793
Counter-Tendency of the State 795
The Sacrifice of Our Army 796
No Secret Organizations 797
The Danger of Secret Organizations 798
Shall Traitors be ' Eliminated ' ? 800
Sport Training of the S.A. 801
Designation and Publicity 802
First Parade in Munich 805
The March to Coburg 806
The Reception in Coburg 806
Red Demonstration 807
The S.A. Stands the Test as a Vital Organization
of Struggle 809
The End of 1923 810
Chapter X
FEDERALISM AS A MASK 816
War Associations and Anti-Prussian Sentiment 817
Anti- Prussian Agitation as a Diversion Maneuver 818
Kurt Eisner, 'Bavarian Particularist ' 819
My Struggle Against the Anti-Prussian Incitement 820
1 Federative Activity ' 822
Jewish Incitement Tactic 823
Anti-Semitism and Defense 824
The Jew Creates Confessional Conflict 825
The Curse of Religious Wars 826
Necessity for Agreement 827
Struggle Against the 'Center1 828
CONTENTS xxxiii
Federal or Unified State? 830
The Gentian Federal State 831
Bismarck's Creation 832
The Revolution and the Federal State 833
The Policy of Redemption and the Forfeiture of the
Federal States' Sovereignty 834
Results of Reich Foreign Policy 836
National State or Slave Colony 837
Unifying Tendencies 838
Abuse of Centralization 839
Oppression of the Individual States 841
Centralization Benefits Party Coffers 841
Reich State Sovereignty 842
Cultural Tasks of the Provinces 842
Unification of the Army 843
One People — One State 845
Chapter XI
PROPAGANDA AND ORGANIZATION 846
Theoretician — Organizer — Agitator 847
Followers and Members 849
Propaganda and Organization 850
The Power for Struggle of Activistic Selection 853
Limitation on Membership Enrolment 854
Frightening the Half-Hearted 856
Reorganization of the Movement 857
Suspension of 'Parliamentarism* 858
Responsibility of the Chief 859
Principle of the Leader Idea 859
The Embryonic State of the Movement 860
Building the Movement 86l
xxxhr CONTENTS
Chapter XII
THE TRADE-UNION QUESTION 868
Arc Trade Unions Necessary? 870
National Socialist Trade Unions? 871
Future Chambers of Economy 875
Corporation Chambers and Economic Parliament 876
No Dual Unions 877
First the Battle for the View of Life, Later the Libera-
tion of the Individual 880
Better no National Socialist Trade Union than a Mis-
carriage 882
Chapter XIII
GERMAN POLICY OF ALLIANCE AFTER THE WAR . . 885
Reasons for the Breakdown 886
The Goal of Foreign Policy: Freedom for Tomorrow 888
Precondition for the Liberation of the Lost Regions 888
Strengthening of Continental Power 892
False Continental Policy Before the War 894
European Relations of Power 894
England and Germany 895
Shifting of the 4 Balance of Power' 896
England's War Aim Unachieved 898
The Hegemony of France 899
Political Aims of France and England 899
On the Possibilities of Alliances 900
Necessity of Community of Interests 901
Is Germany Capable of an Alliance? 903
The Will to Destruction of Jewish Finance 905
Jewish World Incitement Against Germany 906
Adaptation to the Mentalities of Nations 907
Two Possible Allies: England — Italy 908
Hobnobbing with France 909
The South Tyrol Question 911
CONTENTS XKXV
Frustration of German-Italian Agreement 915
Who Betrayed the South Tyrol 915
Not Armed Force, But the Politics of Alliance 917
Three Questions on the Politics of Alliance 918
The First Symptom of German Rebirth 919
Neglected Exploiting of the Versailles Treaty 920
4 Lord Bless Our Struggle ' 921
Inversion of the Anti-German Psychosis 922
The Will to Liberation Struggle 923
Concentration on One Opponent 925
Settling Accounts with One's Own Traitors 925
War of the Nations Against Jewry 927
England and Jewry 928
Japan and Jewry 929
Jewry, the World Enemy 931
Chapter XIV
EASTERN ORIENTATION OR EASTERN POLICY . . 933
Prejudice in Questions of Foreign Policy 934
Significance of the State's Territorial Extensiveness 935
Area and World Power 936
French and German Colonial Policy 937
Out of the Constricted Existence! 939
The Strength of a State is Relative 941
The Fruits of a Millennium of German Policy 941
No Hurrah-Patriotism! 943
The Call to the Old Borders 944
Foreign Poljpy Aim of the National Socialists 947
No Sentimentality in Foreign Policy 948
Germanic Elements in Russia 951
End of Jewish Domination in Russia? 952
Bismarck's Russian Policy 953
The 'League of Oppressed Nations' 954
Is England's Hold on India Shaking? 955
Is England's Hold on the East Shaking? 957
German Alliance with Russia? 957
xxxvi CONTENTS
Germany-Russia Before the War 960
A Political Testament 963
Advantages of an Anglo-German-Italian Alliance 964
The Preconditions for an Eastern Policy 965
The National Socialists 966
Chapter XV
EMERGENCY DEFENSE AS A RIGHT 968
Jewish Leadership of Foreign Policy 970
Seven Years to 1813 — Seven Years to Locarno 971
Persecution of Unpleasant Prophets 972
France's Immovable War Aim 974
France's Immovable Political Aim 977
Settlement with France 978
The Occupation of the Ruhr District 979
Foreign and Domestic Political Results of the Ruhr
Occupation 979
What Should Have Been Done After the Ruhr Oc-
cupation? 981
The Neglected Accounting with Marxism 983
Not Weapons, but Will, Decides! 987
Cuno's Road 987
The 'United Front' 988
Passive Resistance 989
The Position of the National Socialists 990
November 1923 992
Our Dead as Monitors of Duty 993
*
CONCLUSION 994
INDEX 995
Volume One
AN ACCOUNTING
This translation was prepared under the aus-
pices of Dr. Alvin Johnson, of The New School
for Social Research.
The typography of the text of this book follows
that of the first German edition. Both italics and
bold-faced type are used wherever they occurred
in the original.
The more important portions of this book, omit-
ted from the Dugdale Abridgment or condensed
in that version, are indicated by a dagger at the
beginning of such passages and by an arrow at
the end.
CHAPTER I
AT HOME
••FODAY I consider it my good fortune that Fate de-
1 signated Braunau on the Inn as the place of my birth.
• For this small town is situated on the border between
those two German States, the reunion of which seems, at
least to us of the younger generation, a task to be furthered
with every means our lives long.
German-Austria must return to the great German mo-
therland, and not because of economic considerations of
any sort. No, no: even if from the economic point of view
this union were unimportant, indeed, if it were harmful, it
ought nevertheless to be brought about. Common blood be-
longs in a common Reich. As long as the German nation is
unable even to band together its own children in one com-
mon State, it has no moral right to think of colonization as
one of its political aims. Only when the boundaries of the
Reich include even the last German, only when it is no
longer possible to assure him of daily bread inside them,
does there arise, out of the distress of the nation, the moral
right to acquire foreign soil and territory. The sword is
then the plow, and from the tears of war there grows the
daily bread for generations to come. Therefore, this little
town on the border appears to me the symbol of a great
task. But in another respect also it looms up as a warning
4 MEIN KAMPF
to our present time. More than a hundred years ago, this
insignificant little place had the privilege of gaining an
immortal place in German history at least by being the
scene of a tragic misfortune that moved the entire nation.
There, during the time of the deepest humiliation of our
fatherland, Johannes Palm, citizen of Nurnberg, a middle-
class bookdealer, die-hard 'nationalist,1 an enemy of the
The idealism of the Wars of Liberation, waged by Prussia
against Napoleon, is reflected in the career of Johann Phillip
Palm, Nurnberg book-seller, who in 1806 issued a work en-
titled, Deutschland in seiner tiefsten Erniedrigung (Germany in
the Hour of Its Deepest Humiliation). This was a diatribe
against the Corsican. Palm was tried by a military tribunal,
sentenced to death, and shot at Braunau on August 26, 1806.
During the centenary year (1906) a play in honor of Palm was
written by A. Ebenhoch, an Austrian author. It is possible
that Hitler may have seen or read this drama.
Leo Schlageter, a German artillery officer who served after
the World War in the Free Corps with which General von der
Goltz attempted to conserve part of what Germany had gained
by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, was found guilty of sabotage
by a French military tribunal during the Ruhr invasion of
1923. He had blown up a portion of the railway line between
Dusseldorf and Duisburg, and had been caught in the act.
The assertion that he was 'betrayed* to the French is without
historical foundation. It was the policy of the German govern-
ment to discountenance open military measures and to place
its reliance upon so-called 'passive resistance.' Karl Severing,
then Social Democratic Minister of the Interior in Prussia, was
a zealous though cautious patriot whose firm defense of the
democratic institutions of Weimar angered extremists of all
kinds. He was thus a favorite Nazi target. The governments oi
the Reich and of Prussia made every effort to save Schlageter.
The Vatican intervened in his behalf, and it is generally sup-
posed that the French authorities would have commuted the
sentence had it not been for a sudden wave of opposition to
AT HOME 5
French, was killed for the sake of the Germany he ardently
loved even in the hour of its distress. He had obstinately
refused to denounce his fellow offenders, or rather the chief
offenders. Thus he acted like Leo Schlageter. But like
him, he too was betrayed to France by a representative of
his government. It was a director of the Augsburg police
who earned that shoddy glory, thus setting an example for
the new German authorities of Heir Severing's Reich,
t In this little town on the river Inn, gilded by the light of
German martyrdom, there lived, at the end of the eighties
of the last century, my parents, Bavarian by blood, Aus-
trian by nationality : the father a faithful civil servant, the
Poincar6's policy in the Chamber. That induced the govern-
ment to make a show of firmness. Schlageter, whose last words
are said to have been, 'Germany must live,' was executed on
May 26, 1923. Immediately he became a German national hero.
His example more than anything else hallowed the tradition of
the Free Corps in the popular mind and thus strengthened pro-
militaristic sentiment. One of the first cultural activities of the
Nazi regime was a tribute to Schlageter.
Hitler's family background has been a subject for much re-
search and speculation. The father, Alois Hitler (1837-1903),
was the illegitimate son of Maria Anna Schicklgruber; and it is
generally assumed that the father was the man she married —
Johann Hiedler. Until he was forty, he bore the name of his
mother, being known as Alois Schicklgruber. Then on January
8, 1877, he legally changed the name to Hitler, which had been
that of his maternal grandmother. His third wife was Klara
Poelzl (1860-1908), who on April 20, 1889, gave birth to Adolf
Hitler. There may have been a brother or half-brother — if
reports current in Nazi circles are to be credited. At any rate,
Hitler has a living sister and a half-sister. The first has lived in
retirement, but the second — a woman of considerable charm
and ability — is known to have exercised no little influence at
times.
6 MEIN KAMPF
mother devoting herself to the cares of the household and
looking after her children with eternally the same loving
kindness. I remember only little of this time, for a few
years later my father had again to leave the little border
town he had learned to like, and go down the Inn to take a
new position at Passau, that is in Germany proper.
But the lot of an Austrian customs official of those days
frequently meant 'moving on.' Just a short time after-
wards my father was transferred to Linz, and finally retired
on a pension there. But this was not to mean * rest' for the
old man. The son of a poor cottager, even in his childhood
he had not been able to stay at home. Not yet thirteen
years old, the little boy he then was bundled up his things
and ran away from his homeland, the Waldviertel. Despite
the dissuasion of 'experienced' inhabitants of the village
he had gone to Vienna to learn a trade there. This was in
the fifties of the last century. A bitter resolve it must have
been to take to the road, into the unknown, with only three
guilders for traveling money. But by the time the thirteen-
year-old lad was seventeen, he had passed his apprentice's
examination, but he had not yet found satisfaction. It was
rather the opposite. The long time of hardship through
which he then passed, of endless poverty and misery,
strengthened his resolve to give up the trade after all in
order to become something 'better.' If once the village
pastor had seemed to the little boy the incarnation of all
obtainable human success, now, in the big city which had
so widened his perspective, the rank of civil servant became
the ideal. With all the tenacity of one who had grown ' old '
through want and sorrow while still half a child, the sev-
enteen-year-old youth clung to his decision . . . and became
a civil servant. The goal was reached, I believe, after nearly
twenty-three years. Now there had been realized the
premise of the vow that the poor boy once had sworn, not
to return to his dear native village before he had become
something.
AT HOME 7
Now the goal was reached, but nobody in the village
remembered the little boy of long ago, and the village had
become a stranger to him.
When he retired at the age of fifty-six, he was unable to
spend a single day in 'doing nothing.' He bought a farm
near Lambach in Upper Austria which he worked himself,
thus returning, after a long and active life, to the origin of
his ancestors.
It was probably at that time that my first ideals were
formed. A lot of romping around out-of-doors, the long
trip to school, and the companionship with unusually 'ro-
bust1 boys, which at times caused my mother much grief,
made me anything but a stay-at-home. Though I did not
brood over my future career at that time, I had decidedly
no sympathy for the course my father's life had taken. I
believe that even then my ability for making speeches was
trained by the more or less stirring discussions with my
comrades. I had become a little ringleader and at that
time learned easily and did very well in school, but for the
rest I was rather difficult to handle. Inasmuch as I received
singing lessons in my spare time in the choir of the Lambach
Convent, I repeatedly had an excellent opportunity of intox-
icating myself with the solemn splendor of the magnificent
church festivals. It was perfectly natural that the position
of abbot appeared to me to be the highest ideal obtainable,
just as that of being the village pastor had appealed to my
father. At least at times this was the case. For obvious
reasons my father could not appreciate the talent for ora-
tory of his quarrelsome son in the same measure, nor could
he perceive in it any hope for the future of the lad, and so
he showed no understanding for these youthful ideas.
Sadly he observed this dissension of nature.
Actually, my occasional longing for this profession dis-
appeared very quickly and made way for aspirations more
in keeping with my temperament. Rummaging through
• MEIN KAMPF
my father's library, I stumbled upon various books on mili-
tary subjects, and among them I found a popular edition
dealing with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. These
were two volumes of an illustrated journal of the period
which now became my favorite reading matter. Before
long that great heroic campaign had become my greatest
spiritual experience. From then on I raved more and more
about everything connected with war or with militarism.
Since Hitler's outlook and policies are rooted in Austrian ex-
perience (it is sometimes said that he 'made Germany an Aus-
trian's province') some remarks on the general situation in his
home land may be helpful. The Austria-Hungary of the last
three decades of the nineteenth century was only the remnant
of a Habsburg Empire that had once included most of western
Europe. It was a 'dual monarchy,' the crown belonging to the
monarch as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. Since
most of Germany had been welded together (1871) by Bis-
marck in an empire ruled by the Hohenzollern kings of Prussia,
the Germans who remained in Austria-Hungary constituted a
minority, even though most of the important bureaucratic
positions were still in their hands. The position obtained by
Hungary made their lot no easier. For soon every ' nationality '
wished to secure comparable advantages for itself.
The monarchy itself had suffered many a reverse. Under
Frederick the Great and Bismarck, the Prussians had inflicted
several major defeats upon their Austrian rivals. While the
revolutionary liberalism of 1848 was successfully put down at
the cost of severe fighting, the power of the bureaucratic State
was none the less seriously undermined and the eventual
triumph of 'constitutionalism* in 1860-61 was assured. In
addition the unification of Italy was achieved at the cost of
Austrian prestige and possessions. And though the Partition of
Poland had added Galicia to the Habsburg domains, it was
always doubtful who ruled the province — the Poles or the
Austrians. Galicia was also the home of large Jewish com-
munities, from which strong contingents moved to Vienna
and other important cities.
AT HOME 9
But this was to prove of importance to me in another
direction as well. For the first time the question confronted
me — I was a bit confused, perhaps — if and what differ-
ence there was between those Germans fighting these bat-
tles and the others. Why was it that Austria had not taken
part also in this war, why not my father, and why not all
the others? -<•
Are we not the same as all the other Germans?
Do we not all belong together? This problem now began
to whirl through my little head for the first time. After
cautious questioning, I heard with envy the reply that not
every German was fortunate enough to belong to Bis-
marck's Reich.
This I could not understand.
I was to become a student.
From 1880 onward, the problem of * nationalities' dominated
Austrian life. On the one hand, the Hungarians were concerned
lest the Slavic groups — Czechs, Croats, Poles, etc. — extend
their demand for autonomy to the point where the Empire
would become a * federation' of States, and therefore made
common cause with the Germans on issues affecting the status
quo. But a good many Germans, for their part, felt aggrieved
at having been excluded from the Bismarckian Empire and
saw no future for themselves in a predominantly Slavic State.
On the other hand, the Czechs and kindred 'nationalities' con-
tinued to urge the idea of a federation, and to insist upon the
right to foster their own languages and cultures. The Habs-
burg rulers had no choice save recourse to continual compro-
mise. In the Austrian parliament common national interests,
for example the army, were always being subordinated to hotly
debated matters of domestic 'nationality' policy. Doubtless
there was no way out except the establishment of a federation.
To this idea Franz Ferdinand, the Crown Prince whose murder
at Saravejo was the immediate cause of the World War, seems
to have committed himself.
10 MEIN KAMPF
Because of my entire nature, even more because of my
temperament, my father thought he was right in concluding
that attendance at the humanistic Gymnasium would not
be in keeping with my ability. He thought that the Real-
schule [a German secondary school for modern subjects and
sciences] seemed more suitable. This opinion was strength-
ened by my obvious talent for drawing; this subject, he
thought, had been neglected in the Austrian schools. Per-
haps his own lifetime of hard work was a decisive factor and
made him appreciate humanistic studies to a lesser degree,
for to him they appeared impractical. As a matter of prin-
ciple, he was determined that like himself his son should,
nay must, become an official. It was natural that the bitter
experiences of his own youth made his later achievements
appear so much greater, especially since they were exclu-
Some Germans protested strongly against these tendencies.
Nevertheless, the effort to create a party openly favorable to
the separation of German Austria from the Austro-Hungarian
Empire and its merger in the Bismarckian State was far less
successful than might have been anticipated. The early Na-
tionalists of the iSSo's eventually gave rise to the Grossdeutsch
Partei of Hitler's youth, which was violently critical of the
Habsburgs and of all concessions made to the Slavs during the
years 1879-1900. Perhaps it would have gained more ground
if Bismarck had been vitally interested in the problem. But in
addition to the dynastic question of the status of the Habsburgs,
he had after 1871 to avoid giving the impression that Prussia
was an expansion-hungry State. He also realized that the
Vienna monarchy was a source of unity in the chaotic south-
east of Europe, in the affairs of which he did not wish to involve
Germany. Accordingly, the Grossdeutsch people got little
sympathy from him. When he was dismissed from his post by
Emperor Wilhelm II, the sole group remaining in Germany
that could have given much support to the separationist move-
ment in German Austria was the AUdeutscher Verband (Pan-
AT HOME 11
sively the result of his own industry and energy. It was the
pride of the self-made man which moved him to endeavor
to bring his son to a similar position in life, if not a better
one, and all the more since he hoped to make things easier
for the child through his own industry.
It was unthinkable that that which had become the con-
tent of his whole life could be rejected. Thus the father's
decision was matter-of-fact, simple, exact, and clear, quite
comprehensibly in his own eyes. His domineering nature,
the result of a lifelong struggle for existence, would have
thought it unbearable to leave the ultimate decision to a
boy who, in his opinion, was inexperienced and irrespon-
sible. What is more, this would have been inconsistent with
his idea of duty, a wicked and reprehensible weakness in
exercising his paternal authority as he saw it in his respon-
sibility for the future of his son.
German League), an organization of chauvinists and expan-
sionists. They, however, looked upon Austria-Hungary as a
powerful ally and as a diving-board for the plunge eastward
which they looked upon as the German destiny.
In Austria itself the Grossdeutsch elements adopted a policy
calculated to insure failure. They sponsored a little Kultur-
kampf (religious war) of their own, attacking the clergy and
the Church; they disassociated themselves from all social re-
form and all concessions to other groups; and they were given
to rabid attacks on the monarchy. As a consequence, the Ger-
man group was more seriously divided than ever. These mis-
takes all made, as is evident from the text of Mein Kampf , a
deep and lasting impression upon Hitler. Just as he was dis-
gusted with the wrangling about 'nationality' problems that
characterized the Austrian parliament, so was he conscious of
the mistakes which the pro- Prussia leaders had made. He
never disassociated himself from the principles adopted by
those leaders, but he learned to look askance at their methods.
The extent of Austrian yearning for incorporation in the
12 MEIN KAMPF
And yet the course of events was to take a different turn.
For the first time in my life, I was barely eleven, I was
forced into opposition. No matter how firm and deter-
mined my father might be in carrying out his plans and
intentions once made, his son was just as stubborn and
obstinate in rejecting an idea which had little or no appeal
for him.
I did not want to become an official.
Neither persuasion nor ' sincere ' arguments were able to
break down this resistance. I did not want to become an
official, no, and again no! All attempts to arouse my inter-
est or my liking for such a career by stories of my father's
life had the opposite effect. The thought of being a slave
in an office made me ill ; not to be master of my own time,
but to force an entire lifetime into the filling-in of forms,
t What ideas this must have awakened in a boy who was
anything but ' good ' in the ordinary sense of the word ! The
ridiculously easy learning at school left me so much spare
German Empire or, after 1918, the German Republic, is a moot
question. Prior to the War, anti-Prussian sentiment was
probably just as vigorous among the people generally as pro-
Habsburg sentiment. After the defeat there was a general
feeling that the little independent State of Austria could not
survive. Even so it is very doubtful whether the demand for
Anschluss was as 'elemental1 as Hitler says it was. Some
Austrians — notably Professor Ludo Hartmann — sponsored
it with vigor and eloquence. A few unofficial plebiscites were
held in Salzburg and elsewhere and seemed to show that senti-
ment was overwhelmingly in favor of Anschluss; but individu-
ally and collectively they have little value as evidence. Other
sources of information (e.g., records of party deliberations) give
a different impression. Undoubtedly the desire for union grew
during the following years, but it is none the less doubtful
whether an honest plebiscite in 1938 would have favored ab-
sorption of Austria into the Third Reich.
AT HOME 13
time that the sun saw more of me than the four walls of my
room. When today my political opponents examine my life
down to the time of my childhood with loving attention, so
that at last they can point with relief to the intolerable
pranks this 'Hitler1 carried out even in his youth, I thank
Heaven for now giving me a share of the memories of those
happy days. Woods and meadows were the battlefield
where the ever-present 'conflicts' were fought out.
My attendance at the Realschule, which now followed,
did little to deter me.
But now it was a different conflict that had to be fought.
This was bearable as long as my father's intention to
make an official of me was confronted by nothing more than
my dislike of the profession on general principles. I could
restrain my private views and, after all, it was not always
necessary for me to contradict. My own firm intention not
to become an official was sufficient to set my mind at rest.
This decision, however, was irrevocable. The question be-
came more difficult as soon as my father's plan was met by
one of my own. This took place when I was twelve years
old. I do not know how it happened, but one day it was
clear to me that I would become a painter, an artist. My
talent for drawing was obvious and it was one of the reasons
why my father had sent me to the Realschule, but he never
would have thought of having me trained for such a career.
On the contrary. When, after a renewed rejection of my
father's favorite idea, I was asked for the first time what I
intended to be after all, I unexpectedly burst forth with the
resolve I had irrevocably made; in the meantime my father
at first was speechless.
'A painter? An artist?'
He doubted my sanity, he did not trust his own ears or
thought that he had misunderstood. But when it had been
explained to him and when he had sensed the sincerity of
my intentions, he opposed me with the resoluteness of his
14 MEIN KAMPF
entire nature. His decision was quite simple, and any con-
sideration of those actual talents that I might have pos-
sessed was out of the question.
'An artist, no, never as long as I live/ But as his son had
undoubtedly inherited, amongst other qualities, a stubborn-
ness similar to his own, he received a similar reply. Only
its meaning was quite different.
So the situation remained on both sides. My father did not
give up his 'never* and I strengthened my 'nevertheless/
Obviously the consequences were not very enjoyable.
The old man became embittered, and, much as I loved him,
the same was true of myself. My father forbade me to
entertain any hope of ever becoming a painter. I went one
step farther by declaring that under these circumstances
I no longer wished to study. Naturally, as the result of such
'declarations' I got the 'worst of it,' and now the old man
relentlessly began to enforce his authority. I remained
silent and turned my threats into action. I was certain
that, as soon as my father saw my lack of progress in
school, come what may he would let me seek the happiness
of which I was dreaming.
I do not know if this reasoning was sound. One thing
was certain : my apparent failure in school. I learned what
I liked, but above all I learned what in my opinion might
be necessary to me in my future career as a painter. In this
connection I sabotaged all that which seemed unimportant
or that which no longer attracted me. At that time my
marks were always extreme depending upon the subject and
my evaluation of it. ' Praiseworthy ' and ' Excellent ' ranked
with 'Sufficient' and ' Insufficient.1 My best efforts were in
geography and perhaps even more so in history. These
were my two favorite subjects and in them I led my class.-*
Now, after so many years, when I examine the results of
that period, I find two outstanding facts of particular im-
portance:
AT HOME 15
First, / became a nationalist.
Second, / learned lo grasp and to understand the meaning
of history.
Old Austria was a 'State of nationalities.9
t A citizen of the German Empire, at that time at least,
could hardly understand the bearing of this fact upon the
daily life of the individual in such a State. After the amaz-
ingly victorious campaign of the heroic German armies
during the Franco- Prussian War, one had become more and
more estranged from the Germans abroad, partly because
one no longer knew how to appreciate them or perhaps
because one was unable to do so. As far as the Austro
German was concerned, it was easy to confuse the decadent
dynasty with a people who were sound at heart.
It was hard to understand that, were the German in
Austria not actually of the best stock, he never would have
been able to impress his mark upon a State of fifty-two mil-
lion people in such a manner as to create even in Germany
the erroneous impression that Austria was a German State.
This was nonsensical, with the gravest of consequences, but
brilliant testimony for the ten million Germans in the Ost-
mark. Only a very few Germans in the empire had any
idea of the continuous and inexorable struggle waged for
the German language, the German schools, and the German
mode of existence. Only today, when this misery has been
forced upon millions of our people outside of the Reich
proper, who, under foreign domination, dream of a common
fatherland and in their longing for it strive to preserve their
most sacred claim — their mother tongue — only today
wider circles understand what it means to fight for one's
nationality. It is now perhaps that the one or the other will
be able to realize the greatness of the Germans abroad in
the old East of the Reich who at first, dependent upon them-
selves, for centuries protected the Reich in the East, and
at last guarded the German language frontier in a war of
16 MEIN KAMPF
attrition at a time when the Reich was greatly interested in
colonies but not in its own flesh and blood outside its very
doors.
As everywhere and always, as in every struggle, there
were also in the language struggle of the old Austria three
groups:
The fighters, the lukewarm, and the traitors.
Even in school this segregation was apparent. It is sig-
nificant for the language struggle on the whole that its ways
engulf the school, the seed bed of the coming generation.
The child is the objective of the struggle and the very first
appeal is addressed to it:
'German boy, do not forget that you are a German.'
'German maid, remember that you are to be a German
mother/ •+
Those who know the soul of youth will understand that
it is youth which lends its ears to such a battle-cry with the
greatest joy. In hundreds of forms, in its own way and
with its own weapons, it carried on the battle. It refuses to
sing non-German songs; the more one tries to estrange it
from German heroic grandeur, the more enthusiastic it
waxes; it stints itself to collect pennies for the fund of the
grown-ups; it has an unusually fine ear for all that the non-
German teacher says to it; it is rebellious; it wears the for-
bidden emblem of its own nationality and rejoices in being
punished or even in being beaten for wearing that emblem.
On a smaller scale youth is a true reflection of its elders, but
more often with a deeper and a more honest conviction.
At a comparatively early age I, too, was given the oppor-
tunity to participate in the national struggle of old Austria.
Money was collected for the Sildmark and the school club;
our conviction was demonstrated by the wearing of corn-
flowers and the colors black, red, and gold; the greeting was
1 Heil ' ; ' Deutschland iiber alles f was preferred to the imperial
anthem, despite warnings and punishments. In this man-
AT HOME 17
ner the boy was trained politically at an age when a member
of a so-called national State knows little more of his nation-
ality than its language. It is obvious that already then I
did not belong to the lukewarm. In a short time I had be-
come a fanatical 'German nationalist/ a term which is not
identical with our same party name of today.
My development was quite rapid, so that at the age of
fifteen I already understood the difference between dynastic
'patriotism* and popular 'nationalism'; at that time the
latter alone existed for me.
Those who have never taken the trouble to study closely
the internal situation of the Habsburg monarchy may not
be able to understand the full meaning of these events. In
this State the origin for this development was to be found
in the lessons in world history taught in the schools, since
there is practically no specific Austrian history as such.
The conservative cabinet headed (1879-1893) by Taafe at-
tempted to solve the problems of the Empire by winning the
support of the Slavic groups. In 1895-1897 Count Casimir
Badeni sponsored legislation favoring the Czechs in linguistic
and cultural matters; and violent opposition to these measures
was aroused among the nationalistic Germans. The Deuischer
Schulverein (German School Society), an organization founded
in 1880 to promote German schools in foreign countries, was a
center of resistance particularly in Carinthia, where the Slavs
were looked upon as especially menacing. The corn-flower was
a patriotic symbol in Wilhelmian days. Deutschland, DeiUsth-
land uber alles, a lyric written by Fallersleben in 1841, was
sung by the nationalistic groups in Austria to the tune written
by Hayden for the Imperial hymn. Singing it was, therefore,
an insult to the Habsburgs. The 'HeiF — an old German form
of greeting — was used by Austrian nationalists instead of tfie
native forms (e.g., Griiss Gotf), and had an anti-Semitic under-
tone. It required little manipulation to transform all these
things into the Nazi practices now current.
18 MEIN KAMPF
The fate of this State is so closely bound up with the life
and growth of the entire German nationality that it is
unthinkable to separate its history into German and
Austrian. As a matter of fact when Germany began to
split into two supreme powers, this very separation became
German history.
The imperial crown jewels kept in Vienna, reminders of
the old realm splendor, still seem to exercise a magic spell,
a pledge of eternal communion.
The German-Austrian's elementary outcry for a reunion
with the German motherland during the days of the break-
down of the Habsburg State was merely the result of a
feeling of nostalgia slumbering deep in the hearts of the
entire nation for a return to the paternal home which had
never been forgotten. This would be inexplicable had not
the political education of each individual German-Austrian
been the origin of that common longing. In it there lies a
longing which contains a well that never dries, especially
in time of forgetfulness and of temporary well-being it
will again and again forecast the future in recalling the
past.
Even today, courses in world history in the so-called
secondary schools are still badly neglected. Few teachers
realize that the aim of history lessons should not consist in
the memorizing and rattling forth of historical facts and
data; that it does not matter whether a boy knows when
this or that battle was fought, when a certain military
leader was born, or when some monarch (in most cases a
very mediocre one) was crowned with the crown of his an-
cestors. Good God, these things do not matter.
To 'learn' history means to search for and to find the
forces which cause those effects which we later face as
historical events.
Here, too, the art of reading, like that of learning, is to
remember the important, to forget the unimportant.
AT HOME 19
It was perhaps decisive for my entire future life that I
was fortunate enough to have a history teacher who was
one of the few who understood how essential it was to make
this the dominating factor in his lessons and examinations.
At the Realschule in Linz my teacher was Professor Doctor
Ludwig Poetsch, who personified this requisite in an ideal
way. The old gentleman, whose manner was as kind as
it was firm, not only knew how to keep us spellbound, but
actually carried us away with the splendor of his eloquence.
I am still slightly moved when I remember the gray-haired
man whose fiery descriptions made us forget the present
and who evoked plain historical facts out of the fog of the
centuries and turned them into living reality. Often we
would sit there enraptured in enthusiasm and there were
even times when we were on the verge of tears.
Our happiness was the greater inasmuch as this teacher
not only knew how to throw light on the past by utilizing
the present, but also how to draw conclusions from the past
and applying them to the present. More than anyone else
he showed understanding for all the daily problems which
held us breathless at the time. He used our youthful na-
The educational ideas here expressed are in part the common
property of all who have gone to school and in part the legacy
of Turnvater Jahn, the founder of the Turnvereine, or gymnas-
tic societies, whose Deutsches Volkstum (German Folkishness)
appeared in 1810, and whose part in rallying Prussian youth
against Napoleon was a most estimable one. When Hitler
speaks of the girl who ought to remember that her duty is to
become a German mother, or of history as the science which
demonstrates that one's own people is always right, he is
echoing Jahn in the first instance. The best discussion in Eng-
lish of this interesting pedagogue is still an essay which appeared
in the London Magazine during 1820, when these new Prussian
ideas of education seemed important but strange to English-
men.
20 MEIN KAMPF
tional fanaticism as a means of education by repeatedly
appealing to our sense of national honor, and through this
alone he was able to manage us rascals more easily than
would have been possible by any other means.
He was the teacher who made history my favorite sub-
ject.
Nevertheless, although it was entirely unintentional on
his part, I already then became a young revolutionary.
Who could possibly study German history with such a
teacher and not become an enemy of the State which,
through its ruling dynasty, so disastrously influenced the
state of the nation?
And who could keep faith with an imperial dynasty which
betrayed the cause of the German people for its own ig-
nominious ends, a betrayal that occurred again and again
in the past and in the present?
Boys though we were, did we not already realize that this
Austrian State did not and could not harbor love for us
Germans?
Our historical knowledge of the influence of the House
of Habsburg was supported by daily experiences. In the
North and the South the poison of foreign nationalities
This is probably one of the most revealing passages in the
book. Hitler has consistently considered himself a 'Revolu-
tionary,' but has added little to the interpretation of the term
given here. The longing to change the structure of society de-
veloped, in his case, not out of the consciousness of real or fan-
cied social and economic injustices, but out of the feeling that
the Ruling House did not adequately support the demands of
the German groups. After the War he took an identical point
of view in Germany itself, laying siege to the Weimar Republic
because its policy of international conciliation seemed to him a
duplicate of the policy of making concessions to Slavic groups
which Habsburg governments had sponsored. Cf . Adolf Hitter,
by Theodor Heuss (1932).
AT HOME 21
eroded the body of our own nationality, and it was apparent
how even Vienna became less and less a German city. The
Royal House became Czech wherever possible, and it must
have been the hand of the goddess of eternal justice and
inexorable retribution which caused Archduke Franz
Ferdinand, the most deadly enemy of Austrian-Germanism,
to fall by the very bullets he himself had helped to mold.
For was he not the patron of Austria's Slavization from
above !
The burdens which the German people had to bear were
enormous, its sacrifices in taxes and blood unheard of, and
yet, everyone who had eyes to see realized that all this
would IDC in vain. What grieved us most was the fact that
the whole system was morally protected by the alliance with
Germany, and thus Germany herself, in a fashion, sanc-
tioned the slow extermination of the German nationality
in the old monarchy. The hypocrisy of the Habsburgs, who
knew well how to create the impression abroad that Austria
was still a German State, fanned the hatred against this
house into flaming indignation and contempt.
It was only in the Reich itself that the 'chosen ones' saw
nothing of all this. As if stricken with blindness, they
walked by the side of the corpse, and in the indications of
decomposition they thought they detected signs of 'new'
life.
The tragic alliance between the young Reich and the old
Austrian sham State was the source of the ensuing World
War and of the general collapse as well.
In the course of this book I shall find it necessary to deal
further with this problem. It suffices to state here that from
my earliest youth I came to a conviction which never de-
serted me, but on the contrary, grew stronger and stronger:
That the protection of the German race presumed the destruc-
tion of Austria, and further, that national feeling is in no way
identical with dynastic patriotism; that above all else, the
22 MEIN KAMPF
Royal House of Habsburg was destined to bring misfortune
upon the German nation.
Even then I had drawn the necessary deductions from
this realization: an intense love for my native German-
The picture Hitler draws of his early youth is, therefore, one
of idle years spent fighting off formal education under the pre-
text that he wanted to become an artist. That he has ever
since considered himself brilliantly gifted as a painter and archi-
tect is indubitable. The flags, uniforms and insignia of the
Party were designed by him. The 'senate chamber* and study
in the Brown House, Munich, are proudly displayed as exam-
ples of the Fuhrcr's (Leader's) work. In the first, which is
primarily a study in red leather, the swastika serves as an al-
lusion to the SPQR of ancient Rome. Later on his views were
influenced by his Bavarian environment, more particularly it
would seem by the art theories of Schulze-Naumburg, who in
the Thuringia of 1930 led the attack on modernistic art and
architecture.
During 1937 Munich was stirred by an exposition of 'De-
generate Art,' which gathered from the museums pictures ad-
judged not to be in the strict Aryan tradition. Meanwhile
there had been erected in the same city a Kunsthalle adorned
with a row of simple classical pillars; and this structure is
generally accepted as embodying Hitler's ideal of what a build-
ing ought to be. The example of Mussolini also had its effect.
In order to provide a suitable approach to the Kunsthalle, one
of King Ludwig's ancient streets was torn down and widened.
Down this avenue, festooned with countless flags and abundant
drapery, II Duce proceeded upon the occasion of his historic
trip to Munich in 1937.
More recently the new Chancellery in Berlin has been com-
pleted. A skyscraper, taller than any in New York, was pro-
jected for Hamburg. Hitler is also known to have devised
models of a Vienna and Berlin reconstructed according to his
ideas of what a city ought to be. Enormous sums have already
been diverted into building operations.
AT HOME S3
Austrian country and a bitter hatred against the 'Austrian*
State.
The art of historical thinking, which had been taught me
in school, has never left me since. More and more, world
history became a never-failing source of my understanding
of the historical events of the present, that is, politics. What
is more, I do not want to ' learn ' it, but I want it to teach
me.
Since I had become a political 'revolutionary' at so early
a stage, it was not much later that I became an 'artistic'
one.
At that time the capital of Upper Austria had a theater of
fairly high standing. Almost everything was performed
there. At the age of twelve I saw 'Wilhelm Tell' for the
first time, and a few months later, I saw the first opera of
my life, 4 Lohengrin.' I was captivated at once. My youth-
ful enthusiasm for the master of Bayreuth knew no bounds.
Again and again I was drawn to his works and today I con-
sider it particularly fortunate that the modesty of that
provincial performance reserved for me the opportunity of
seeing increasingly better productions.
All this served to confirm my deep-rooted aversion for
the career my father had chosen for me, especially after I
had left childhood behind and approached manhood — a
painful experience. I was more definitely convinced that I
could never be happy as an official. And now that my talent
for drawing had also been recognized in school, my resolve
was even more firmly established.
Neither pleas nor threats could influence me.
I wanted to become a painter, and no power on earth
could ever make an official of me.
But it was strange that as the years passed, I demon-
strated more and more interest in architecture. At that
24 MEIN KAMPF
time I took it for granted that this was merely an augmen-
tation of my talent for painting and secretly I was delighted
at this widening of my artistic horizon.
I had no idea that things were to turn out so differently.
The question of my career was to be settled more quickly
than I had anticipated.
When I was thirteen my father died quite suddenly. The
old gentleman, who had always been so robust and healthy,
had a stroke which painlessly ended his wanderings in this
world, plunging us all in the depths of despair. His dearest
wish, to help his son to build up his existence, thus safe-
guarding him against the pitfalls of his own bitter experi-
ence, had apparently not been fulfilled. But unconsciously
he had sown the seed for a future which neither he nor I
would have grasped at that time.
At first nothing changed in my daily life.
My mother probably felt the obligation to continue my
education in accordance with my father's wishes, in other
words, to have me continue my studies for the career of an
official. But I was determined more than ever not to be-
come an official. My attitude became more and more in-
different in the same measure that the subjects and the
education which school afforded me deviated from my own
ideal. Suddenly an illness came to my aid, and in the course
of a few weeks, settled the perpetual arguments at home
and, with them, my future. Because of a severe pulmonary
illness, the doctor strongly advised my mother not to place
me in an office later on under any circumstances. I was
also to give up school for at least one year. With this event,
all that I had fought for, all that I had longed for in secret,
suddenly became reality.
Impressed by my illness, my mother agreed at long last
to take me out of school and to send me to the Akademie.
AT HOME 25
These were my happiest days; they seemed like a dream
to me, and so they were. Two years later my mother's
death put a sudden end to all these delightful plans.
It was the end of a long and painful illness that had
seemed fatal from the very beginning. Nevertheless it was
a terrible shock to me. I had respected my father, but I
loved my mother.
Necessity and stern reality now forced me to make a
quick decision. My mother's severe illness had almost ex-
hausted the meager funds left by my father; the orphan's
pension which I received was not nearly enough for me to
live on, and so I was faced with the problem of earning my
own daily bread.
I went to Vienna with a suitcase, containing some clothes
and my linen, in my hand and an unshakable determination
in my heart. I, too, hoped to wrest from Fate the success my
father had met fifty years earlier; I, too, wanted to become
'something' — but in no event an official.
CHAPTER II
YEARS OF STUDY AND
SUFFERING IN VIENNA
t% ^W^ JTHEN my mother died, Fate had cast the die in
\J\X one direction at least.
T T During the last months of her suffering, I had
gone to Vienna to take my entrance examination to the
Akademic. I had set out with a lot of drawings, convinced
that I would pass the examination with ease. At the Real-
schulc I had been by far the best artist in my class; and
since then my ability had improved greatly, so that my self-
satisfaction made me hope both proudly and happily for
the best.
There was but one cloud which occasionally made its ap-
pearance; my talent for painting sometimes seemed to over-
shadow my ability for drawing, especially in nearly all of
the branches of architecture. Also my interest in the art
of building as a whole grew steadily. This was stimulated,
when I was not quite sixteen, by the fact that I was allowed
for the first time to spend a two weeks' vacation in Vienna.
I went there especially to study the picture gallery of the
Hofmuseum, but I had eyes for nothing but the buildings
of the museum itself. All day long, from early morn until
late at night, I ran from one sight to the next, for what at-
tracted me most of all were the buildings. For hours on end
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 27
I would stand in front of the opera or admire the Parliament
Building; the entire Ringstrasse affected me like a fairy tale
out of the Arabian Nights.
And now I was in this beautiful city for the second time,
burning with impatience; I waited with pride and confi-
dence to learn the result of my entrance examination. I was
so convinced of my success that the announcement of my
failure came like a bolt from the blue. And yet it was true.
When I had obtained an interview with the director and
asked him to explain why I had not been admitted to the
general painting school at the Akademie, he assured me that
the drawings I had submitted clearly showed my lack of
painting ability, but that my talents obviously lay in the
field of architecture; it was the school of architecture and
not the school of painting where I belonged. They could
not understand why I had not attended a school for archi-
tecture or why I had not been given any instruction in this art.
Downcast, I left von Hansen's magnificent building on
the Schillerplatz, dissatisfied with myself for the first time
in my life. What I had been told about my ability was like
a bright flash of lightning which seemed to illuminate a dis-
sonance from which I had long suffered, but as yet I had not
been able to give myself a clear account of its wherefore and
whyfore.
A few days later I, too, knew that I would become an
architect.
However, the way was to be an extremely difficult one,
for all that which I had stubbornly neglected at the Real-
schule was to take its vengeance now. The admission to the
school of architecture of the Akademie was dependent on
attendance at the Polytechnic's building school, and admis-
sion to this was only possible after having received a certifi-
cate of maturity at a secondary school. I was without all
this. In all human probability it seemed as though the
realization of my artist dreams was no longer possible.
28 MEIN KAMPF
When, after my mother's death, I went to Vienna for
the third time and this time to remain there for many years,
I had in the meantime regained my peace and my confi-
dence. My former obstinacy had returned and my goal was
finally fixed before my eyes. I wanted to become an archi-
tect, and one should not submit to obstacles but overcome
them. And I would overcome these obstacles, always bear-
ing in mind my father's example, who, from being a poor
village boy and a cobbler's apprentice, had made his way
up to the position of civil servant. Now I was on surer
ground and the chances for the struggle were better; what I
then looked upon as the cruelty of Fate, I praise today as
the wisdom of Providence. When the Goddess of Misery
took me into her arms more than once and threatened to
Hitler's mother died on December 21, 1908, leaving him vir-
tually penniless. He left Vienna again in the spring of 1912.
During the period intervening, he lived generally in the Refuge
for Men, in Vienna-Brigittenau, Information concerning his
activities has been supplied by various people who then knew
him, primarily Rudolf Hanisch, a designer, whose memoirs have
been evaluated by Heiden. It is often difficult to determine
whether these traditions are historically accurate, since the
Hitler of Vienna days was a bit of human flotsam who in addi-
tion kept pretty much to himself. But we know that he slept
in a ward with other derelicts, that he was fed at the gate of
the monastery in the Gumpendorferstrasse; that in winter he
earned an occasional schilling with a snow shovel; and that he
drew little water-colors and sketches whicii Hanisch peddled
around at the humbler art shops. It has been proved that at
the time he had Jewish acquaintances and a number of Jewish
friends. More important, however, is the fact that he spent
much time in the cafes, reading the newspapers constantly
available there. He was never, then, a 'house painter,1 but
remained a young man with a poor scholastic record who had
time to read political journalism.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 29
crush me, the will to resist grew and was finally victorious.
I owe much to the time in which I had learned to become
hard and also that I know now how to be hard. I praise it
even more for having rescued me from the emptiness of an
easy life, that it took the milksop out of his downy nest and
gave him Dame Sorrow for a foster mother, that it threw
him out into the world of misery and poverty, tnus making
him acquainted with those for whom he was later to fight.
During this time my eyes were to be opened to two dan-
gers which hitherto I had barely known by name ; but I did
not perceive their terrible bearing upon the existence of the
German race to its fullest extent.
Vienna, the city that to so many represents the idea of
harmless gaiety, the festive place for merry-making, is to
me only the living memory of the most miserable time of
my life.
Even today it can waken only depressing thoughts in my
mind. The name of this Phaeacian city means five years of
sorrow and misery. Five years in which I had to make my
living, first as a worker, then as a painter; a truly scanty
living, for it was barely enough to appease even my daily
hunger. Hunger was then my faithful guard; he was the
only friend who never left me, who shared everything with
me honestly. Every book I bought aroused his sympathy;
a visit to the opera made him my companion for days; it
was a constant struggle with a pitiless friend. And yet, dur-
ing this time, I learned as I had never learned before. Apart
from my interest in architecture and my visits to the opera
for which I had to stint myself, books were my only pleasure.
At that time I read endlessly, but thoroughly. The spare
time my work left to me I spent entirely in study. So in a
few years I built a foundation of knowledge from which I
still draw nourishment today.
30 MEIN KAMPF
But much more than that.
At that time I formed an image of the world and a vie*
of life which became the granite foundation for my actions.
I have had to add but little to that which I had learned then
and I have had to change nothing.
On the contrary.
Today it is my firm belief that in general all creative
ideas appear in youth, provided they are present at all.
Here I distinguish between the wisdom of old age, which,
as the result of the experiences of a long life, is of value only
in the form of a greater thoroughness and carefulness as
contrasted with the genius of youth whose inexhaustible
fertility pours forth thoughts and ideas without being able
to digest them because of their abundance. Youth fur-
nishes the building material and the plans for the future;
maturity takes and cuts the stones and constructs the build-
ing, provided the so-called wisdom of old age has not suf-
focated the genius of youth.
The life I had known in my father's house showed little
or no difference from that of other people. I looked forward
to each new day without a care and social problems were un-
known to me. The surroundings of my childhood were the
circles of the bourgeoisie, a world which had but very few
connections with the working classes. Though at first sight
Here Hitler describes very well the feeling which was later
on to swell the ranks of the National-Socialist Party. 'The
bourgeois and peasant middle classes still constitute forty-five
per cent of the total population of Germany ,' wrote Guenter
Keiser in June, 1931. 'Today they have a mass movement, the
beginnings of a program, the nucleus of a leadership, a firm
determination to have their way, a contagious activism, and
a myth — of the Third Reich. All these things are necessary
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 31
it may seem absurd, yet the difference between these two,
unfavored as they are by economic conditions, is greater
than one realizes. The reason for that which one could al-
most call 'hostility* is the fact that a social class, which has
only recently worked its way up from the level of manual
labor, fears to fall back into the old, but little esteemed,
class, or at least fears being counted in with that class. In
addition many remember with disgust the misery existing
in the lower class; the frequent brutality of their daily social
contacts; their own position in society, however small it
may be, makes every contact with the state of life and
culture, which they in turn have left behind, unbearable.
This explains why members of the higher social class can
frequently lower themselves to the humblest of their fellow
outgrowths of historical development and cannot be disposed
of with an allusion to " demagogues." These masses are neither
pro- nor anti-capitalistic. They are opposed to certain especial
aspects of high capitalism and to certain particular ways in
which capitalism manifests itself. Before the War . . . the
handicrafts prospered, retail merchants profited by reason of
expanding markets, and the peasants were benefited by the
rise in the standard of living. But today, inside the far narrower
boundaries of the post- War economy, the expansionist impulse
latent in capitalism is carrying that capitalism into the dis-
tribution process. Department stores, branch concerns, ten-
cent stores, direct sales by the manufacturer, etc., are now nor-
mal. Technical progress is also making it possible to organize
on a wholesale, capitalistic basis what until now have been
typical handicraft industries, e.g., baking, butchering, tailor-
ing, building. . . . Finally, the more bureaucratic the corpo-
rative enterprise becomes, the more dependent does the status
of its white-collar employee become. That is the economic
fundament upon which National Socialism rests. The middle
classes, the peasants, and the white-collar employees want the
economic situation which existed in pre-War days: — a healthy
32 MEIN KAMPF
beings with less embarrassment than seems possible to the
'upstarts/
For an upstart is anyone who, through his own energy,
works his way up from his previous social position to a
higher one.
Finally, this relentless struggle kills all pity. One's own
painful scramble for existence suffocates the feeling of sym-
pathy for the misery of those left behind.
In this respect Fate took pity on me. By forcing me back
into this world of poverty and uncertainty, a world from
which my father had emerged in the course of his own life,
the blinders which a narrow bourgeois education had given
me were cast off. It was only now that I learned to know
man; I learned to distinguish between sham or the brutal
appearance of human lives and their inner being. •*•
At the turn of the century Vienna was already a city with
unfavorable social conditions.
Glamorous wealth and repulsive poverty were mixed in
sharp contrast. In the heart of the city and in the inner dis-
tricts, one could well feel the pulse of a realm of fifty-two
million people, for all its doubtful charm, as a State of na-
tionalities. Like a magnet, the Court with all its brilliant
balance between big and little industry, and between agricul-
ture and industry as a whole. Therefore they are against "High
Capitalism" and "Marxism" alike. The second is held to en-
courage competition through fostering the development of
co-operatives, and accused, beyond that, of having helped the
worker to climb the social ladder faster than the other classes
— an insupportable fact.' (Cf. Neue Blaetter fuer den Sozial-
ismus, Vol. II, nr. 6.) The list of Nazis who fell during the
putsch of 1923 is a striking demonstration of all this. It in-
cludes intellectuals, white-collar employees, students and arti-
sans, but no workers. And, of course, no 'capitalists.'
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 33
splendor attracted the wealth and intelligence from the rest
of the State. To this was added the strong centralizing
policy of the Habsburg monarchy in itself.
This offered the only possibility of keeping this porridge
of nations together. The result, however, was a concentra-
tion of the higher and highest authorities in the capital and
Court city.
But Vienna was not only politically and intellectually,
but also economically, the center of the old Danubian mon-
archy. The host of high officers, civil servants, artists and
savants was confronted by a still greater number of workers;
the wealth of aristocracy and commerce was contrasted with
a dismal poverty. Thousands of unemployed loitered about
in front of the palaces in the Ringstrasse, and below that
via triumphalis of the old Austria, in the twilight and the
mud of the canals, the homeless sought shelter.
There was hardly any other German city where social
questions could have been studied better than in Vienna.
But we must not deceive ourselves. This * study ' cannot be
carried out from above. Those who have never felt the grip
of this murderous viper will never know its poisonous fangs.
On the other hand, the result is nothing but a superficial
babbling or hypocritical sentimentality. Both are equally
evil. The first, because it never penetrates into the nucleus
of the problem; the second, because it passes it by. I do not
know which is worse: the ignoring of the social misery by
the majority of the fortunate, or by those who have risen
through their own efforts, as we see it daily, or the graciously
patronizing attitudes of a certain part of the fashionable
world (both in skirts and trousers) whose 4 sympathy for the
people1 is at times as haughty as it is obtrusive and tactless.
These people do more harm than their brains, lacking in all
instinct, are capable of imagining. Therefore they are as-
tonished to find that the response to their helpful social
'disposition' is always nil and frequently causes indignation
34 MEIN KAMPF
and antagonism ; this, of course, is taken to prove the peo-
ple's ingratitude.
These minds fail to see that social work has nothing to do
with this: that above all it must not expect gratitude, since it
should not deal out favors but restore rights.
I was prevented from learning the social question in this
fashion. Because I was drawn into the confines of its suffer-
ing, it seemed to invite me not to 4 learn/ but rather to use
me for experimentation. It was none of its doing that the
guinea pig recovered from the operation.
t If I were to try now to describe chronologically my vari-
ous stages of feeling, I could never fully accomplish it; I
wish to present only those impressions which seemed most
important and frequently those most moving for me, to-
gether with the few lessons they had given me then.
In general, I did not find it very difficult to secure work,
because I was not a skilled laborer, but only a handy man,
and I had to earn my living by doing occasional work.
I had the point of view of all those who wish to shake
Europe's dust from their feet with the firm resolve to create
a new existence in the new world, to conquer a new home-
land. Severed from all the paralyzing conceptions of class
and profession, of surrounding and tradition, they seize any
opportunity which is offered, take any kind of work, and
gradually they come to realize that honest work is no dis-
grace no matter what it may be. So I, too, had resolved to
jump with both feet into the new world and to fight my
way through.
I soon learned that there is always work to be found and
that it is lost just as easily.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 35
The uncertainty of earning one's daily bread seemed to
me to be the darkest side of my new life.
Of course the 'skilled' worker is not dismissed quite so
frequently as the unskilled; but even he is not completely
protected against such a fate. Instead of losing his income
because of a shortage of work, he is confronted with a lock-
out or a strike of his own choosing.
Here the uncertainty of the daily income takes its most
bitter revenge on the whole of economic life.
The farmer's boy who comes to town, attracted by easier
work, be it real or imaginary, by the shorter working hours,
but most of all by the dazzling bright lights which the city
sheds forth, is still accustomed to a certain security of in-
come. He usually only gives up his job if there is at least
another in sight. Finally, the shortage of farm hands is
great and therefore the probability of long periods of un-
employment is very slight. It is a mistake to assume that
the young people who come to town are of inferior material
to those who continue making their living by cultivating the
soil. No, on the contrary: experience teaches that all migra-
tory individuals consist of energetic and healthy elements
rather than the reverse. But among those * immigrants'
one counts not only the American immigrant, but also the
young farmer boy who makes up his mind to leave his na-
tive village to come to town. He, too, is ready to chance an
uncertain destiny. Frequently he brings a little money
with him to the big city so that he need not despair the very
first day if he has had no luck in finding work for a pro-
longed period of time. But the situation is more difficult
when shortly thereafter he has to give up the job that he
found. It is especially hard in winter, if not almost impossi-
ble, to find a new home. The first few weeks may go well
enough. He draws relief from the treasury of his union and
he manages as best he can. But once he has spent his last
cent and in consequence of his long period of unemployment
36 MEIN KAMPF
the treasury suspends its relief payments, then the distress
becomes great. Now he loiters about hungrily, he pawns or
sells the last of his belongings, his clothes get shabbier day
by day, and he sinks into surroundings which, apart from
the material misery he experiences, also poison his spirit.
If then he becomes homeless, and if this happens (as is often
the case) in winter, then his misery becomes acute. Finally
he finds work of some kind. But the game repeats itself.
He is hit the same way a second time, a third time perhaps
more severely, so that by and by he learns to endure the un-
certainty of life with indifference. Finally the repetition be-
comes a habit.
Thus the entire concept of life of a fellow who is other-
wise industrious is demoralized and he is gradually trans-
formed into a tool for those who use him for their own ends.
He has been out of work so many times through no fault of
his own that one time more or less no longer matters; it
may be no longer a question of fighting for economic rights,
but the destruction of political, social, or cultural values in
general. Though he may not like strikes, he is probably in-
different to them.
I was able to observe this process with my own eyes in
thousands of cases. The longer I observed the game, the
more my aversion grew against the metropolis which so
greedily sucked the people in only to destroy them.
When they arrived, they still belonged to their people;
if they remained, they were lost to them.
I had been knocked about by my life in the metropolis in
a similar manner and I was able to test the effect of such a
fate on my own person and to experience it spiritually. I
saw one thing more there: the rapid change from working
to unemployment and vice versa; the repeated changes in
income and expenditure destroyed in many people the de-
sire for saving and the realization of a balanced mode of
living. The body apparently becomes accustomed to good
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 37
living in times of plenty and to going hungry in times of
need. Even in times of better income, hunger often over-
throws every resolve for a future balanced distribution, for,
like a perpetual mirage, hunger conjures up before the eyes
of its victim visions of a life of abundance and embellishes
his dream until such a state of longing is achieved that it
puts an end to all self-denial once earnings and income per-
mit it. This is the reason why a laborer, as soon as he has
found work, forgets to budget intelligently and becomes a
spendthrift instead. This even leads to discarding the small
household budget, because even here wise distribution is
neglected; in the beginning there may be enough for five
days out of seven, later only for three, finally hardly enough
for one day, and at last the money is spent on the very first
night.
At home there are often wife and children. Sometimes
they are drawn into this sort of life, especially if the man
treats them well on the whole and loves them after a fashion.
Then the weekly salary is spent jointly at home during the
first two or three days; they eat and drink as long as there
is some money left, and the remaining days of the week are
spent in hunger. Then the wife sneaks away into the neigh-
borhood and the surroundings, borrowing a little, making
small debts at the grocer's so that the remaining lean days
can be endured. At noon they are all gathered around
meager dishes and sometimes there is nothing at all, and
they await the next payday, talk of it and make plains, and
while they are hungry, they already dream of the good
fortune to come.
So, from their earliest days, the young children become
familiar with misery.
But things end badly indeed when the man from the very
start goes his own way and the wife, for the sake of her
children, stands up against him. Quarreling and nagging
set in, and in the same measure in which the husband be-
38 MEIN KAMPF
comes estranged from his wife, he becomes familiar with
alcohol. Now he is drunk every Saturday, and in her in-
stinct of self-preservation for herself and her children, the
wife fights for the few pennies which she wangles from him,
and frequently her sole opportunity is on his way from the
factory to the saloon. When he finally comes home on Sun-
day or Monday night, drunk and brutal, but always with-
out a last cent and penny, then God have mercy on the
scenes which follow.
I witnessed all of this personally in hundreds of scenes
and at the beginning with both disgust and indignation;
but later I began to grasp the tragic side and to understand
the deeper reasons for their misery. Unfortunate victims
of poor social conditions.
Almost sadder were the housing conditions in those days.
The housing distress of the Viennese unskilled workers was
dreadful. Even now I shudder when I think of those piti-
ful dens, the shelters and lodging houses, those sinister
pictures of dirt and repugnant filth, and worse still.
How would it be, and how will it be, when one day there
pours forth the mass of unleashed slaves out of these mis-
erable dens, overflowing the other so thoughtless fellow
creatures and contemporaries!
For this other world is thoughtless.
Thoughtlessly it allows things to go as they will with-
out foreseeing, in their lack of intuition, that sooner or
later Fate will take its revenge if Fate is not reconciled in
time.
How grateful I am today to Providence which bade me
go to this school ! There I could not sabotage what I dis-
liked. It educated me quickly and thoroughly.
If I were not to despair of the people of my surroundings,
I had to learn to distinguish between their external ap-
pearance and manners and the origins of their develop-
ment. This was the only way possible to bear all this
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 39
without despairing. What grew out of this unhappiness
and misery, of this filth and external decay, were no longer
human beings, but the deplorable results of deplorable
laws; however, the pressure of my own hard and no less
easy struggle for life prevented me from capitulating in
miserable sentimentality before the final results of this
process of development.
No, it must not be interpreted like that. <•
I saw then that only a twofold way could lead to the
goal for the improvement of these conditions:
A deep feeling of social responsibility towards the estab-
lishment of better foundations for our development, combined
with the ruthless resolution to destroy the incurable social
tumors.
Just as Nature concentrates, not on safeguarding that
which exists, but on breeding the coming generation as the
representative of the species, so in human life it is less a
question of artificially cultivating the existing evils which,
human nature being what it is, would be ninety-nine per
cent impossible, but rather to assure healthier paths for
future development from the start.
Already during my struggle for life in Vienna, it had
become clear to me that :
Social activity must never see its task in the sentimental
conception of welfare work which is as ridiculous as it is
futile, but rather in the abolition of those fundamental defects
in the organization of our economic and cultural life which
must lead to, or at least encourage, the degradation of the
individual.
The difficulty of applying the most extreme and brutal
means against the criminality endangering the State is to
be found, above all, in the prevailing uncertainty concern-
ing the inner motives or causes of the symptoms of our
time.
This uncertainty is only too deeply rooted in one's own
40 MEIN KAMPF
feeling of being guilty of such tragedies of demoralization;
it paralyzes every sincere and firm decision, thus adding
to the wavering and half-heartedness with which even the
most urgent measures of self-preservation are applied.
Only when the time comes when a race is no longer over-
shadowed by the consciousness of its own guilt, then it
will find internal peace and external strength to cut down
regardlessly and brutally the wild shoots, and to pull up
the weeds.
These pages indicate a possible debt to Karl Freiherr von
Vogelsang, one of the founders of the Christian Social Move-
ment in Austria, and one of the editors of the journal Vaterland.
A conservative nobleman of Prussian ancestry, he had been
received into the Catholic Church by Bishop Emanuel von
Ketteler, the first German Catholic apostle of social reform,
and had then migrated to Vienna. His group taught that the
rights of all take precedence over the rights of the few (which
Hitler phrases, Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz), demanded leg-
islation to protect the worker against exploitation (a precept
developed later on by Franz Hitze and others in Germany into
a code of labor protection laws), and sponsored a type of eco-
nomic organization akin in some ways to the kind of 'corpo-
rative society' endorsed in the Papal Encyclical, Quadragesima
Anno (i.e., not the 'corporative state* of Italian Fascism). Of
especial concern to Vogelsang were the moral consequences of
the liberalistic economy — intemperance, improvidence, etc.
He also attacked the taking of interest and the grip on industry
exercised by the 'money lenders/ (Cf. the biography of Vogel-
sang by Wiard Klopp, Vienna, 1930.) A more modern and very
much more radical statement of the same views can be found
in Economia Perennis, by Anton Orel (Graz, 1928). It seems
probable that Hitler saturated himself at one time with Vater-
land editorials, which afford interesting parallels to what he
writes here. But he subordinates the Vogelsang teaching to hifc
own chauvinistic Pan-German outlook.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 41
Since the Austrian State hardly knew social justice and
social laws, its weakness in fighting even the worst excres-
cences was glaringly obvious.
I do not know what shocked me more at that time: the
economic distress of my erstwhile comrades, their ethical
and moral crudity, or the low level of their spiritual de-
velopment.
Does not our bourgeoisie rise in moral indignation when
it hears from the lips of some miserable tramp that he
doesn't care whether he is German or not, that he feels at
home anywhere, as long as he has enough to live on?
This lack of 'national pride* is deeply deplored and the
horror at such an attitude is expressed in strong terms.
But how many people ask themselves the question, what
in their own case was the reason for their own better way
of thinking?
How many are there who understand the numerous
memories of the greatness of the fatherland, of the nation,
in all fields of cultural and artistic endeavor which, when
summoned up, justify their pride in being privileged to
belong to such a blessed nation?
How many know how dependent their pride in their
country is upon their knowledge of its greatness in all these
domains?
f Does our bourgeoisie realize to what a ridiculously small
extent this assumption of pride in the fatherland is trans-
mitted to the 'people'?
We cannot excuse ourselves by saying ' it is not different
in the other countries'; that 'in spite of this' the workers
there stand up for their nationality. Even if this were so,
it could not serve as the excuse of our own negligence. But
it is not so. What we always term 'chauvinistic' education,
that of the French nation, for example, is nothing but the
42 MEIN KAMPF
stress upon France's greatness in all fields of culture or,
as the French say, 'civilization.' The young Frenchman
is not educated with an objective, but a subjective, point
of view, which we can only understand as far as the politi-
cal or cultural greatness of his country is concerned.
This education should be limited to general and im-
portant points of view, which, if necessary, should be im-
pressed on the minds and feelings of the people by constant
repetition.
But to our negative sin of omission, we add the positive
sin of destroying the little the individual is lucky enough
to learn in school. The rats of the political poisoning of
our nation gnaw away the little that is left in the hearts
and the memories of the masses, if misery and distress have
not already done so.
Now let us imagine the following:
In a basement apartment of two stuffy rooms lives a
worker's family of seven people. Among the five children
there is a boy, let us say, of three. This is the age at which
a child becomes conscious of his first impressions. In
many intelligent people, traces of these early memories
are found even in old age. The smallness and the over-
crowding of the rooms do not create favorable conditions.
Quarreling and nagging often arise because of this. In such
circumstances people do not live with one another, but on
top of one another. Every argument, even the most un-
important, which in a larger apartment would take care
of itself for the reason that one could step aside, leads to
a never-ending, disgusting quarrel. Among the children
this does not usually matter; they often quarrel under such
circumstances and forget completely and quickly. But
when the parents fight almost daily, their brutality leaves
nothing to the imagination; then the results of such visual
education must slowly but inevitably become apparent in
the little ones. Those who are not familiar with such con*
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING
43
ditions can hardly imagine the results, especially when the
mutual differences express themselves in the form of brutal
attacks on the part of the father towards the mother or to
assaults due to drunkenness. The poor little boy, at the
age of six, senses things which would make even a grown-up
person shudder. Morally infected, undernourished, his poor
little head covered with lice, the young 'citizen* wanders
off to the elementary school. He may learn to read and to
write only with the greatest difficulty, and nothing more.
Learning at home is out of the question. On the contrary.
In front of the children, father and mother often speak
about school and the teachers in a manner one cannot pos-
sibly repeat, and are inclined
them ; instead of placing the
spanking some sense into
The other things the litt
tend to further his r
single good shred is left
tution is left unattacked ;
the head of the State, be
be it the State or society,
abused, everything is pulled
into the filth of a depraved
of fourteen, the young lad is dismissed from school, it is
difficult to say which is worse: his unbelievable ignorance
as far as knowledge and ability are concerned, or the biting
impudence of his behavior, combined with an immorality
which makes one's hair stand on end, considering his
age.
But what place in society will the young man — for
almost nothing is sacred to him ; having learned nothing of
greatness, he but guesses and knows all the meanness of
life — now take when he enters into life?
The three-year-old child has now become a youth of fif-
teen who despises all authority. Familiar with nothing
things about
knee and
them.
do not
Not a
insti-
up to
such,
ing is
manner
at the age
44 MEIN KAMPF
other than dirt and filth, the young fellow knows nothing
that could rouse his enthusiasm for higher things.
But now for the first time he enters the high school of
life.
Now the same mode of living, which he learned from
his father during childhood, begins. Now he loiters about,
and God only knows when he comes home; for a change
he may even beat the poor creature who was once his
mother, curses God and the world, and finally, for some
reason or other, he is sentenced to a reformatory.
There he receives the final polish.
But his dear bourgeois fellow men are truly astonished
at the lack of 'national' enthusiasm in this young 'citizen.'
They see how theaters and movies, worthless literature
and tabloid newspapers pour poison into the masses by the
bucketful, and are surprised by their low 'morality,' their
national 'indifference.' As though movie sentimentality,
tabloid newspapers, and similar rubbish could lay the
foundation for a realization of national greatness! To say
nothing of the previous education of the individual. •«•
What I had never guessed before, I learned to under-
stand now: quickly and thoroughly.
The question of the ' nationalization f of a people is first of
all a question of creating sound social conditions as the funda-
mental possibility for educating the individual. For only
those who, through education and schooling, get to know the
cultural and economic, and above all the political, greatness
of their own country, can and will be proud of being allowed
to call themselves members of this nation. Moreover, I can
only fight for what I love; only love what I can respect; only
respect what I know.
Now that my interest for the social question was awak-
ened, I began to study it in all thoroughness. It was a
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 45
new and hitherto unknown world which opened itself
before my eyes.
In 1909-10 my own situation had changed somewhat,
as I no longer had to earn my daily bread as an unskilled
worker. I worked independently as a modest draftsman
and painter of aquarelles. Though this was bitter as far
as my earnings were concerned — it was really barely
enough for a living — it was good for the career I had
chosen. Now I was no longer dead tired as formerly when
coming home from my work in the evening, unable to
open a book without falling asleep after a short time.
The work I was doing went hand in hand with my future
profession. I was also master of my own time and I was
able to arrange it better than before.
I painted in order to earn a living and I learned for
enjoyment.
Thus I was enabled to supplement my practical ex-
periences concerning social problems with the necessary
theory. I studied almost every book on the subject I
could get hold of, and for the rest I was steeped in thoughts
of my own.
I believe that those who knew me then must have thought
me a queer fellow.
But with all this it was natural that I devoted myself
enthusiastically to my passion for architecture. Along with
music, architecture appeared to me to be the queen of
the arts: under such circumstances my occupation with it
was not 'work,' but the greatest happiness. I was able to
read or draw late into the night; I was never tired. Thus
my belief, that my beautiful dream of the future would
become reality, perhaps only after many years, was
strengthened. I was firmly convinced that some day I
would make a name as an architect.
1 did not place much importance on the fact that in
addition I took the greatest interest in everything con-
46 MEIN KAMPF
nected with politics. On the contrary; to me this was the
natural duty of every thinking human being anyway. He
who had no understanding for this simply had no right to
criticize or to complain,
t Here, too, I also read and learned a lot.
But by 'reading* I may possibly mean something entirely
different from the great average of our so-called 'intelli-
gentsia/
I know people who endlessly 'read' a lot, book after
book, letter for letter, yet I would not call them 'well
read.' Of course, they possess a wide 'knowledge,' but
their intellect does not know how to distribute and register
the material gathered. They lack the ability to distinguish
in a book that which is of value and that which is of no
value to them; to keep the one in mind forever, and to
Hitler was never more candid than in these pages, which
must not be read, however, as a mere defense against the charge
of ignorance. The educational program of National Socialism
is based upon the theory that too much reading, too much fa-
miliarity with different points of view, fosters criticism, and
therewith disrupts the unity with which the nation must face
the problem of war. Hitler's declaration that he read in order
to fortify ideas he already held is, whether true in fact or not
(the point has been raised by various biographers), highly im-
portant because it happens to coincide with a trend in Ger-
man pedagogical thought which, related in a sense to Plato and
Fichte, has led to the 'Spartan ' ideal now dominant in German
higher education and handed down thence to the elementary
school. Aurel Kolnai, in his War against the West, summarizes
the ideas of one spokesman for that trend — Professor Alfred
Baeumler, latterly Nazi appointee to the University of Berlin :
'We set ourselves the task of breeding types, not "individuali-
ties." To the ideal of universality (many-sidedness) we oppose
efficient and disciplined unity; to harmony, force; to refinement,
greatness and simplicity; to complicated inwardness, an atti-
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 47
overlook, if possible, the other, instead of carrying it with
them as so much unnecessary ballast. Reading, further-
more, is not a purpose in itself, but a means to an end.
It should serve, first of all, to fill in the frame which Is
formed by the talents and abilities of the individual;
thus reading has to furnish the tools and the building
material which the individual needs for his profession, no
matter whether it serves only the primitive purpose of
making a living or whether it presents a higher vocation;
secondly, reading has to give a general picture of the world.
In both cases it is necessary that the content of what
has been read is registered in the mind, not according
to the sequence in the book, or according to the sequence
in which the books are read, but that, like the small pieces
of a mosaic, it is put into the place where it belongs, thus
tude of steadfastness. The utmost dignity is accorded to bodily
training, not for reasons of health, but as a direct expression of
the preferred "mode of life." . . . Amidst a culture that has be-
come too inward, too spiritual, athletics restore the principle
of "visibleness." Our conditions of life must be simplified; we
shall have to resort to the elemental forces in our people.9
Concerning Hitler's own intellectual equipment, the follow-
ing objective statement made by Professor Hans E. Friedrich in
1931 seems readable and interesting today: 'He is an orator, an
organizer, a practical psychologist; and in addition he possesses
physical courage, is unusually able to tap his own enthusiasm,
and has a fund of glowing personal emotions. But in order to
become a leader in the sense that Pericles and Napoleon were
leaders, he would have to overcome his lack of that which gives
a man in supreme command personal confidence in himself —
calmness of analysis (above all where he himself is concerned),
hardness to the point of rigor, ability to face decisions of im-
portance with an absolutely open mind, unemotional serious-
ness in the act of looking things over, and that measure of inner
objectivity that gives a man independence and stubborn per*
48 MEIN KAMPF
helping to complete the general picture of the world in
the mind of the reader. Otherwise, the result will be a
terrible muddle of things learned, and this is not only
of little value, but it also makes its unfortunate possessor
presumptuous and vain. For now he thinks in all sincerity
that he is 'educated'; he thinks he knows life and has
knowledge; whereas in reality, with each new contribu-
tion to this 'education,' he is more and more estranged
from the world, till frequently he ends in a sanatorium,
or as a 'politician* in parliament.
Such a person will never succeed in finding, in an hour
of need, the right thing in the medley of his 'knowledge,'
as his mental ballast is not arranged according to the
course of life, but in the order in which he has read the
books and in which their contents are arranged in his
mind. If Fate in his daily demands of life were always
to remind him of the right use of that which he has once
read, then it would also have to remind him of each book
and the page number or else the poor devil in all eternity
would never find the right thing. But since it does not
do this, these extraordinarily wise men are terribly em-
barrassed at critical moments and seek frantically for
analogies, and then, of course, they are dead certain to
chance upon the wrong recipe.
If this were not so, we should not be able to understand
the political achievements of our learned heroes in the
highest government positions, unless we decided that they
sistence. In addition Hitler seems to lack that elementary
knowledge of economic and political situations and of history
which a leader must have at his command, though he need not
drag about with him a ballast of information.' (Cf. Die christ-
Kche Well, Vol. XLV, nr. 9.)
The practical consequences of Hitler's attitude towards edu-
cation will be discussed later on.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 49
had pathological inclinations instead of infamous villainy.
When studying a book, a magazine, or a pamphlet, those
who master this art of reading will immediately pick out
that which in their opinion is suitable for them — because
it serves their purposes or is generally worth knowing —
and therefore to be remembered forever. As soon as the
knowledge so gained finds its due place in the one or the
other existing picture of this or that thing which imagina-
tion has created, it will act as a corrective or as a supple-
ment, thus enhancing its truth or its clarity. When life
suddenly presents some question to be examined or an-
swered, then this manner of reading will immediately take
the already existing picture as a standard, and from it it
will take all the single contributions to this question which
have been collected during past decades, and submit them
to the intellect for examination and reconsideration till the
question is clarified or answered.
It is only in this fashion that reading is of use and has
meaning.
A public speaker, for instance, who does not in this way
supply his intelligence with the necessary support will
never, in case of contradiction, be able to present his
opinion convincingly, no matter whether it may correspond
a thousand times to truth or reality. His memory will
shamefully desert him in all discussions; he will neither
find supporting arguments for his contentions, nor will he
find such with which to confound his adversary. This
may be all very well if it only concerns a public speaker
and only his own personal reputation is involved, but things
take a bad turn when Fate appoints such a 'know-it-all/
who is really a know-nothing, the head of a State.
From my early youth I took pains to read in the right
manner, and in this I was happily assisted by my memory
and intellect. And in this light the time I spent in Vienna
was especially fruitful and useful. The experiences of
50 MEIN KAMPF
everyday life gave me the stimulus for my renewed study
of various problems. As I was thus finally enabled to sub*
stantiate theory with reality, to examine theory in its re-
lation to reality. I was spared being suffocated in theories
and from becoming shallow through reality.
Apart from the social problem, two other very important
questions were also experienced in daily life, decisive and
stimulating for a thorough theoretical study.
Who knows when I might have plunged into studying
the doctrines and ideas of Marxism if that period had not
virtually pushed my nose into this problem !
What I knew of Social Democracy during my youth was
precious little and mostly wrong.
I was secretly glad to know that it fought for general
suffrage and the secret ballot. My reason already told me
that this would lead to the weakening of the Habsburg
regime which I hated so much. In the conviction that the
State on the Danube could never be preserved unless the
German nationality was sacrificed, and that even paying
the price of the gradual Slavicizing of the German element
Faithful to its internationalist program, Socialism made
every effort to organize Slav and German workers in a common
front. When after the War a constitutional assembly convened
in Austria, Viktor Adler declared: 'We extend fraternal greet-
ings to our Slavic and Romanic brethren, and are ready to
unite with the peoples that are our neighbors in a free federa-
tion, if they so desire. Otherwise German Austria will be com-
pelled to join Germany as a specially constituted state inside
the German federation of states/ The position of the small
Austrian National Socialist Party at that time was: it imme-
diately repudiated every thought of a common association with
the peoples comprising the old Habsburg Empire, and de-
manded union with Germany.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 51
would in no way have guaranteed the survival of the State,
as it was doubtful if the Slavic nationality could have ac-
complished this, I therefore welcomed every development
which in my opinion would lead to the breakdown of the
State which had pronounced the death sentence on ten mil-
lion German people. The more the linguistic tohuwabohu
[Hebrew — Genesis 1:2 — meaning chaos, confusion,
hubbub] ate into and tore at the parliament, the sooner
would come the hour of doom of this Babylonian realm,
and with it, the day of freedom for my German-Austrian
people. Only in this way could the Anschluss with the
old motherland be achieved.
I rather liked the activity of Social Democracy. The
fact that it finally endeavored to raise the standard of living
of the working class — in those days my innocent mind was
foolish enough to believe this — seemed to speak rather in
its favor than against it. But what disgusted me most was
its hostile attitude towards the fight for the preservation
of the German nationality, its pitiful courtship of the Slav
* comrades,' who readily accepted this wooing as long as it
meant practical allowances, but were otherwise arrogantly
aloof, thus paying the intruding beggars the wages they
deserved.
At the age of seventeen I had rarely heard the word
'Marxism,' whereas 'Social Democracy* and 'Socialism1
were identical ideas to me. Here, too, the hand of Fate
had to open my eyes to this unprecedented betrayal of the
people.
Till then I had known the Social Democratic Party only
from a spectator's point of view, on the occasion of various
mass demonstrations, without having the slightest insight
into the mentality of its followers or the meaning of its
doctrine; but now I suddenly came into contact with the
products of its education and view of life; I now achieved
in a few months what otherwise might have taken decades:
52 MEIN KAMPF
the realization that it was a pestilential whore covered
with the mask of social virtue and brotherly love, and that
mankind must rid the world of her as soon as possible, or
otherwise the world might easily be rid of mankind.
While I was employed as a building worker, my first
encounter with Social Democracy took place.
It was not a very enjoyable experience from the begin-
ning. My clothes were still in good shape, my language was
refined, and my manners reserved. I still was so preoc-
cupied with my own affairs that I did not bother much
with my surroundings. I looked for work to prevent me
from starving, thus hoping to find the possibility for further
training, however slow it might be. Perhaps I would not
have troubled about my new surroundings at all if some-
thing had not happened on the third or fourth day which
forced me to take a stand. I was asked to join the or-
ganization.
My knowledge of unions was nil at that time. I would
not have been able to prove the suitability or the useless-
ness of their existence. When I was told that I had to join,
I refused. I gave as my reason that I did not understand
the whole affair and that, on the whole, I would not let
myself be forced into anything. The first was perhaps the
reason why I was not thrown out immediately. Perhaps
they hoped that in a few days I would be converted or
would give in. In any event, they were thoroughly mis-
taken. After two weeks 1 was not allowed to wait any
longer, even if I had wanted to. During these two weeks I
had become better acquainted with my surroundings, so
that no power on earth could have induced me to join an
organization whose representatives had meanwhile shown
themselves in so unfavorable a light.
The first few days I was annoyed.
At noon some of the men went into the nearest public
houses, while others remained on the spot where they in
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 53
most cases ate a very frugal meal. These were the married
ones whose wives brought them their noonday soup in
battered dishes. Their number grew steadily towards the
end of the week; why, I knew only later. Now politics were
discussed.
I drank my bottle of milk and ate my piece of bread
somewhere on the side, cautiously studying my new sur-
roundings or pondering over my miserable fate. Yet I
heard more than enough ; also, more than once it seemed to
me as if they approached me intentionally in order to draw
me out. In any case, what I heard served to annoy me
extremely. Everything was rejected: the nation as an in-
vention of the 'capitalistic' classes — how often was I to
hear just this word! — ; the country as the instrument of
the bourgeoisie for the exploitation of the workers; the
authority of the law as a means of suppressing the prole-
tariat; the school as an institution for bringing up slaves
as well as slave drivers; religion as a means for doping the
people destined for exploitation; morality as a sign of
sheepish patience, and so forth. Nothing remained that
was not dragged down into the dirt and the filth of the
lowest depths.
In the beginning I tried to keep silent. But finally I
could hold back no longer. I began to take part and to
contradict. But soon I realized that this was entirely hope-
less as long as I did not possess at least a certain knowledge
of the subjects under argument. Thus I began to look into
the sources from which the others drew their so-called wis-
dom. I studied book after book, pamphlet after pamphlet.
On the job the arguments often became heated. Being
daily better informed about their knowledge than my ad-
versaries themselves, I argued till finally one day they
applied the one means that wins the easiest victory over
reason : terror and force. Some of the leaders of the other
side gave me the choice of either leaving the job at once
54 MEIN KAMPF
or of being thrown from the scaffold. As I was alone and
resistance seemed hopeless, I preferred to follow the
former, enriched by a new experience.
I went away, disgusted, but at the same time I was so
stirred that it would have been impossible for me to turn
my back on the whole affair. No; after my first indignation
had passed, my stubbornness gained the upper hand. I
firmly resolved to return to another construction job. This
decision was encouraged by Poverty, who, after I had eaten
up my small savings in the course of a few weeks, clasped
me in her unfeeling arms. Now I had to, whether I wanted
to or not. The game began again from the beginning, only
to end in a similar way as it had the first time.
My mind was tormented by the question: Are these still
human beings, worthy of being part of a great nation?
A torturing question it was; if answered in the affirma-
tive, then the fight for a nation is no longer worth the
trouble and the sacrifices which the better ones have to
make for such outcasts; if the answer is in the negative,
then our nation is poor in human beings.
During these days of pondering and reflection I watched
with uneasiness the mass of those who could no longer be
counted as belonging to the nation grow into a threatening
legion.
How different were my feelings when one day I stared
at the endless columns of a mass demonstration of Viennese
workers, marching by in rows of four! For nearly two hours
I stood there and watched with bated breath this terrible
human dragon creeping slowly along. Depressed and
anxious I left the square and walked home. On my way I
saw in a tobacco shop a copy of the Arbeiterzeitung, the
mouthpiece of the old Austrian Social Democracy. It was
also available in a cheap coffee shop where I sometimes
used to go to read the newspapers; but so far I had not
been able to bring myself to look at this wretched paper
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 55
for more than two minutes, for the effect of its language
on me was like that of spiritual vitriol. Under the de-
pressing influence of the demonstration, an inner voice
now urged me to buy the paper for once and to read it
thoroughly. I did this in the evening, though I sometimes
had to fight down the rage rising in me because of this
concentrated solution of lies.
The daily reading of the Social Democratic newspapers
enabled me better to study the inner meaning of these
ideas than all of the theoretic literature put together.
What a difference between the phrases about liberty,
beauty, and dignity, the delusive swaggering which at-
tempted to express the deepest wisdom, the disgusting and
humane morality — everything was written with an iron-
faced prophetic certainty — contained in the theoretic
literature and this doctrine of salvation of a new mankind
in a daily press which did not shrink from any baseness
whatsoever, and which operated with the most brutal
forces of calumny and a virtuosity for lying that was out-
rageous! The one is intended for the innocent simpletons
of the middle, and, of course, the upper, classes of the
4 intelligentsia ' ; the other for the masses.
For me the concentration on the literature and press of
this organization and its doctrine was my return to my
people.
What I first had looked upon as an impassable chasm
now spurred me on to a greater love for my country than
ever before.
Aware of the terrible workings of this poison, only a fool
would condemn the victim. The more independent I be-
came in the following years, the greater the distance, the
wider were my eyes opened to the inner causes of the
Social Democratic successes. Now I understood the brutal
demand to subscribe only to red newspapers, to attend
only red meetings, to read only red books, and so on. My
56 MEIN KAMPF
eyes saw with plastic clarity the enforced result of this
doctrine of intolerance. •*?
The psyche of the great masses is not receptive to half
measures or weakness.
Like a woman, whose psychic feeling is influenced less
by abstract reasoning than by an undefinable, sentimental
longing for complementary strength, who will submit to
the strong man rather than dominate the weakling, thus
the masses love the ruler rather than the suppliant, and
inwardly they are far more satisfied by a doctrine which
tolerates no rival than by the grant of liberal freedom ; they
often feel at a loss what to do with it, and even easily feel
themselves deserted. They neither realize the impudence
with which they are spiritually terrorized, nor the out-
rageous curtailment of their human liberties, for in no way
does the delusion of this doctrine dawn on them. Thus
they see only the inconsiderate force, the brutality and
the aim of its manifestations to which they finally always
submit.
// Social Democracy is confronted by a doctrine of greater
truthfulness, carried out with the same brutality, then the
latter will be victorious, though the struggle may be hard.
Before two years had elapsed, the doctrine and the
technical tools of Social Democracy had become clear to me.
I understood the infamous mental terror which this
movement exercised on the population which could neither
morally nor psychically resist such attacks; Social De-
mocracy, at a given signal, directs a bombardment of lies
This statement is of cardinal importance, so that an analysis
of the underlying thought development is suggested. Hitler,
conscious of belonging to a higher social caste than his fellow-
workers — after all, his father had spent a lifetime struggling
to rise — instinctively retreats from the idea of accepting
solidarity with them. They persist in their proselyting efforts.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 57
and calumnies towards the adversary who seemed most
dangerous, till finally the nerves of those who had been
attacked give out and they, for the sake of peace, bow down
to the hated enemy.
But the fools will not find peace after all.
The play begins again and is so often repeated till the
fear of the mad dog paralyzes them by suggestion.
As Social Democracy knows, from its own experience,
the value of strength, it assaults mostly those in whom it
scents a trace of that rare material. On the other hand,
it praises every weakling of the other side, sometimes cau-
tiously, sometimes more boldly, according to the mental
qualities they appreciate or suspect.
It is less afraid of a powerless, irresolute genius than of
a strong man of even moderate intelligence.
Most of all it recommends those who are weaklings in
mind and power.
It knows how to create the appearance as though this
were the only way in which peace could be maintained;
yet relentlessly it conquers one position after another,
An argument ensues; and appalled by their revolutionary
attitudes, he loses his temper. There is a fight. Afterward
he can only think bitterly of how these large groups of Germans
are being weaned away from ardent zeal for the expansion of
the German nation and made, by persistent regimentation
and propaganda, to accept the creed of international class
warfare. The trend could not, he decided, be halted with
reasoning or evidence. Only a group still more disciplined,
still more ruthless in its methods, would after a bitter struggle
be able to suppress such a movement. These early reflections
colored his later conduct. The Social Democracy of post-War
years in Germany was not revolutionary but reformist. It
was actuated by a deep and intelligent patriotism. But he
refused to concede that his Vienna impressions needed revision.
56 MEIN KAMPF
eyes saw with plastic clarity the enforced result of this
doctrine of intolerance, •<•
The psyche of the great masses is not receptive to half
measures or weakness.
Like a woman, whose psychic feeling is influenced less
by abstract reasoning than by an undefinable, sentimental
longing for complementary strength, who will submit to
the strong man rather than dominate the weakling, thus
the masses love the ruler rather than the suppliant, and
inwardly they are far more satisfied by a doctrine which
tolerates no rival than by the grant of liberal freedom ; they
often feel at a loss what to do with it, and even easily feel
themselves deserted. They neither realize the impudence
with which they are spiritually terrorized, nor the out-
rageous curtailment of their human liberties, for in no way
does the delusion of this doctrine dawn on them. Thus
they see only the inconsiderate force, the brutality and
the aim of its manifestations to which they finally always
submit.
// Social Democracy is confronted by a doctrine of greater
truthfulness, carried out with the same brutality, then the
latter will be victorious, though the struggle may be hard.
Before two years had elapsed, the doctrine and the
technical tools of Social Democracy had become clear to me.
I understood the infamous mental terror which this
movement exercised on the population which could neither
morally nor psychically resist such attacks; Social De-
mocracy, at a given signal, directs a bombardment of lies
This statement is of cardinal importance, so that an analysis
of the underlying thought development is suggested. Hitler,
conscious of belonging to a higher social caste than his fellow-
workers — after all, his father had spent a lifetime struggling
to rise — instinctively retreats from the idea of accepting
solidarity with them. They persist in their proselyting efforts.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 57
and calumnies towards the adversary who seemed most
dangerous, till finally the nerves of those who had been
attacked give out and they, for the sake of peace, bow down
to the hated enemy.
But the fools will not find peace after all.
The play begins again and is so often repeated till the
fear of the mad dog paralyzes them by suggestion.
As Social Democracy knows, from its own experience,
the value of strength, it assaults mostly those in whom it
scents a trace of that rare material. On the other hand,
it praises every weakling of the other side, sometimes cau-
tiously, sometimes more boldly, according to the mental
qualities they appreciate or suspect.
It is less afraid of a powerless, irresolute genius than of
a strong man of even moderate intelligence.
Most of all it recommends those who are weaklings in
mind and power.
It knows how to create the appearance as though this
were the only way in which peace could be maintained;
yet relentlessly it conquers one position after another,
An argument ensues; and appalled by their revolutionary
attitudes, he loses his temper. There is a fight. Afterward
he can only think bitterly of how these large groups of Germans
are being weaned away from ardent zeal for the expansion of
the German nation and made, by persistent regimentation
and propaganda, to accept the creed of international class
warfare. The trend could not, he decided, be halted with
reasoning or evidence. Only a group still more disciplined,
still more ruthless in its methods, would after a bitter struggle
be able to suppress such a movement. These early reflections
colored his later conduct. The Social Democracy of post- War
yeans in Germany was not revolutionary but reformist. It
was actuated by a deep and intelligent patriotism. But he
refused to concede that his Vienna impressions needed revision.
58 MEIN KAMPF
either by quiet pressure or by downright robbery at mo-
ments when public attention is occupied with other things
and does not wish to be disturbed or because it considers
the affair too trifling to be dealt with and does not wish to
provoke the adversary anew.
These tactics are based on an exact calculation of all
human weaknesses; their result must lead to success with
almost mathematical certainty, unless the other side also
learns to fight poison gas with poison gas.
Weak natures have to be told that it simply means 'to
be or not to be/
The importance of physical terror against the individual
and the masses also became clear to me.
Here, too, we find exact calculation of the psychological
effect.
The terror in the workshops, in the factory, in the assembly
hall, and on occasion of mass demonstrations will always be
accompanied by success as long as it is not met by an equally
great force of terror.
Then, of course, the party will cry havoc; scornful of
State authority it will now call for it, so that in most cases
and in the general disorder, it will reach the goal — that is,
it will find some idiot of a higher official who, in the stupid
hope of in this way gaining, for the future, perhaps the
favor of the dreaded enemy, helps to break the adversary
of this universal plague.
Only those who know the soul of a people, not from
books but from life, can understand the impression such
success makes on the sensibilities of the masses of adherents
and adversaries as well. While in the ranks of their ad-
herents the victory gained is looked upon as the triumph
of the right in its own cause, the beaten adversary in most
cases despairs entirely of the success of all further re-
sistance.
The closer I became acquainted with the methods of
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 59
physical terror, the more I asked for forgiveness from those
hundreds of thousands who succumb to it.
I owe most of all to that period of suffering that it alone
has given my people back to me, that I learned to dis-
tinguish between victims and seducers.
The results of these seductions cannot be called anything
other than victims. For if I now were to try to draw from
life the existence of these 'lowest1 classes, the picture
would not be complete without the assurance that in these
depths I would also find light in the shape of a rare willing-
ness to make sacrifices, a faithful comradeship, extreme
contentedness, and reserved modesty, especially among the
older generation of the working class. Though these virtues
were lost more and more to the younger generation, espe-
cially under the general influence of the big city, yet there
were many whose sound and healthy blood mastered the
mean baseness of life. If nevertheless these good-natured,
plucky people, in their political activity entered the ranks
of the deadliest enemy of our nationality, thus helping to
close them up, the fault was that they did not and could
not understand the baseness of the new doctrine, that no-
body else took the trouble to look after them, and that
finally social conditions were perhaps stronger than all the
mutual will power present. The poverty into which they
would fall sooner or later drove them finally into the camp
of Social Democracy.
As innumerable times the bourgeoisie, in the most stupid,
but also the most immoral, manner turned against claims
which were generally and humanly justified, without obtaining
any advantages for themselves or expecting any, even the most
decent worker was driven from trade unionism into political
activity.
t Millions of workers were certainly inwardly enemies of
the Social Democratic Party at the beginning, but their
resistance was overcome in a sometimes idiotic way and
60 MEIN KAMPF
manner, because the parties of the bourgeoisie turned
against all social demands. They foolishly suppressed all
attempts to improve working conditions, safety devices on
machines, abolition of child labor, and protection of the
woman at least during those months when she carries
under her heart the future fellow citizen, thus helping
Social Democracy, which gratefully took up every such
deplorable manifestation to drive the masses into its nets.
Never can our political bourgeoisie repair the damage it
has done. By its resistance to all attempts to remedy
social abuses, it sowed seeds of hatred and condoned the
claims of the arch-enemies of the entire nationality, that
the Social Democratic Party alone represented the interests
of the working classes.
Thus it created above all the moral justification for the
actual existence of trade unions, those organizations which
from the beginning rendered the greatest touting service
to the political party.
During my years of apprenticeship in Vienna I was
forced, whether I wanted or not, to define my attitude
regarding the question of unions.
As I looked upon them as an inseparable part of the
Social Democratic Party as a whole, my decision was quick
— and wrong.
It was natural that I should reject them flatly.
In this enormously important question Fate itself gave
me lessons.
The result was the reversal of my first decision. **
By the time I was twenty I had learned to distinguish
between the union as a means of defending the general
social rights of the employees and of fighting for better
living conditions for the individual, and the union as a
party instrument in the political class war.
The fact that Social Democracy realized the enormous
importance of the union movement secured the instrument
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 61
for it, and with it, success; it cost the bourgeoisie its political
position because it did not understand this. By an im-
pudent rejection it thought that it would be able to put
an end to a logical develgpment, whereas in reality it only
forced it to assume illogical paths. It is nonsense and,
furthermore, untrue that the union movement in itself is
unpatriotic. Quite the contrary is true. If union activity
Axes as its goal, and carries out, the uplifting of a class
which forms part of the basic pillars of the nation, it does
not act unpatriotically or inimically towards the State,
but it is 'national' in the true sense of the word. After
all, it helps to create the preliminary social conditions
without which a general national education is unthinkable.
It is the highest merit of the union movement that it
abolishes deep-seated social evils and that it attacks
physical and mental infections, thus adding to the general
welfare of the national body.
The question as to its necessity, therefore, is really
superfluous.
As long as there are amongst the employers people with
little social understanding or even lacking a sense of justice
and fairness, it is not only the right but even the duty of
their employees, who after all form part of our national-
ity, to protect the interests of all against the avarice and
the unreasonableness of the individual; the safeguarding
of the faith and loyalty of a national body is a concern of
the nation, just as is the safeguarding of the health of the
people.
Both are seriously endangered by unworthy employers
who do not consider themselves part of the entire national
community. The ill effects of their avarice and reckless-
ness cause grave dangers for the future.
To abolish the causes of such a development means to
deserve well of the nation, and not perhaps the reverse.
We cannot say that the individual is free to draw the
62 MEIN KAMPF
consequences from a real or imagined wrong that has been
done to him, that means to go [sic]. Oh, no! This would be
humbug and must be considered as an attempt at diverting
one's attention. Either the abolition of evil and unsocial
events is in the interest of the nation or it is not. If it is,
then the battle against it has to be fought with the help of
weapons which give hope for success. The individual worker
is never in a position to maintain his position against the
power of big business, because the question involved is not
that of the victory of the higher right, for with its acknow-
ledgment the whole argument, since there would be no
reasons, would not exist; the question involved is only that
of the greater power. On the other hand, the existing feel-
ing of justice alone would end the quarrel in an honest
manner, or, better still, the quarrel would never have
started.
No, if unsocial or unworthy treatment of human beings
calls for resistance, and as long as no lawful and judicial
authorities are created for the abolition of these evils, the
struggle can be decided only by the stronger. But it is natural
that the power of the employer, concentrated into one single
person, can be opposed only by the masses of employees,
united into one single body, as otherwise they would have to
renounce aU hope for victory at the start.
Thus the union organization may lead to a strengthening
of a social idea in its practical effects on everyday life, and
with it help towards the abolition of causes of irritation,
which again and again bring about dissatisfaction ana
complaint.
That this is not the fact must for the most part be at-
tributed to those who knew how to put obstacles in the
way of every lawful regulation of social abuses or who
have prevented it by means of their political influence.
In the same measure in which the political bourgeoisie
did not understand, or rather did not want to understand,
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 63
the union organization and showed resistance against it,
Social Democracy embraced the disputed movement.
Thus it clear-sightedly created a firm basis which has
proved itself as a last support in more than one critical
hour. Of course, the original purposes were abandoned
gradually to make room for new goals.
Social Democracy never thought of preserving the pro-
fessional movement it had included as its original task.
No, this was not its intention.
In the course of a few decades, under its skilled hand,
ihe means for protecting social and union rights had be-
come the instrument for the destruction of national
economics. The interests of the workers were not to prove
the least hindrance. For in politics, also, the application
of economic means of pressure permits the exercise of ex-
tortion, as long as there exists a sufficient amount of the
necessary recklessness on the one side, and enough stupid,
sheepish patience on the other.
Something which in this case applies to both sides.
At the turn of the century the union movement had
already long since ceased to serve its original purpose.
From year to year it had entered more and more into the
confines of Social Democratic politics, till finally its pur-
pose was only that of a ram in the class war. By its con-
tinued blows it was to bring about the fall of the entire
economic body, built up with great care, so that the
structure of the State, after its economic foundations had
been destroyed, would easily meet with the same end.
The representation of all the economic needs of the workers
was receiving less and less consideration, till finally po-
litical wisdom did not think it desirable to remedy the
social or even cultural distress of the great masses any more,
for once their demands had been satisfied, one would run
the risk that they could no longer be used as helpless storm
troops.
64 MEIN KAMPF
So great was the fear that such an ominously perceived
development had instilled in the leaders of the class war
that they at last not only declined, but even opposed, any
real beneficial social action.
They never were at a loss for an explanation for such an
apparently incomprehensible attitude.
By screwing the demands higher and higher, their pos-
sible fulfillment seemed so small and unimportant that one
was able to convince the masses at any time that one had
only to deal with the devilish attempt to weaken or even
paralyze the force of the working class by such a ridiculous
satisfaction of their holiest claims. Considering the limited
thinking power of the masses, the success is not surprising.
In the camp of the bourgeoisie, the indignation was great
at this apparent insincerity of the Social Democratic
tactics, but without drawing even the slightest deductions
for a directive of their own. The Social Democrats' very
fear of the actual raising of the workers from the depths
of their present cultural and social misery should have led
to the greatest efforts in this direction, so that the instru-
ment would gradually have been wrenched from the repre-
sentatives of the class war.
But this was not done.
Instead of conquering the position of the enemy by an
attack of their own, they preferred to be pressed and pushed,
till finally the actions which were taken were entirely in-
adequate because they came too late; as they were too
unimportant, it was easy to reject them. Thus in reality
everything remained as it had been, only the dissatisfaction
was greater than before.
Like a threatening thundercloud, the 'free trades union'
hung over the political horizon and the life of the individual.
It was one of the most terrible instruments of intimida-
tion against the security and the independence of national
economy, the solidity of the State and personal freedom.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 65
It was the free trades union above all which turned the
conception of Democracy into a ridiculous and repellent
phrase, which profaned liberty and ridiculed fraternity
forever with the words ' Und willst du nicht Gcnossc sein,
so schlagen wir dir den Schaedel ein.' [And if you will not
join with us, we'll crack your skull.]
Thus I learned to know this 'Friend of mankind.9 My
opinion was enlarged and deepened in the course of the
years, but I had no reason to change it.
The more insight I gained into the externals of Social
Democracy, the greater became my longing to penetrate to
the nucleus of its doctrine.
The official literature of the party, of course, was of
little use. As far as economic problems are concerned, it is
wrong in assertion and proof; as regards the political aims,
it lies. In addition, I was disgusted with its modern petti-
fogging methods and its writing. With an enormous amount
of words of unclear content or unintelligible meaning it piles
up sentences which are supposed to be as ingenious as they
are meaningless. Only the decadent bohemianism of our
big cities may feel at home in this labyrinth of reason, to
pick up an 'inner experience9 from the dung heap of this
literary dadaism, supported by the proverbial modesty of
part of our people, which senses deepest wisdom in the most
incomprehensible things.
However, by balancing the theoretical untruth and the
nonsense of this doctrine with the reality of its appearance,
I gradually gained a clear picture of its inner intention.
In such hours I had sad forebodings and was filled with
a depressing fear, I was faced by a doctrine consisting of
egoism and hatred; it could be victorious, following mathe-
matical laws, but at the same time it could bring about the
end of mankind.
66 MEIN KAMPF
Meanwhile I had learned to understand the connection
between this doctrine of destruction and the nature of a race,
which hitherto had been unknown to me.
Understanding Jewry alone is the key to the comprehension
of the inner, the real, intention of Social Democracy.
He who knows this race will raise the veil of false concep-
tions, and out of the mist and fog of empty social phrases
there rises the grinning, ugly face of Marxism.
Today I would find it difficult, if not impossible, to say
when the word 'Jew* gave me cause for special thoughts for
the first time. At home, as long as my father lived, I cannot
remember that I ever heard the word. I am sure that if the
old gentleman had mentioned the term in any special way,
he would probably have been indicating antiquated culture.
In the course of his life his opinions had been more or less
cosmopolitan, which he not only retained despite his strong
national feelings, but they also had an effect upon me as
well.
Even in school I found no reason which could cause me to
change this accepted picture.
At the Realschule I became acquainted with a Jewish
boy whom we all treated with circumspection, but only
because experience had taught us not to trust him too much
on account of his reticence; neither I nor the others had
any particular thoughts in the matter.
It was only when I was fourteen or fifteen that I came
upon the word 'Jew' more frequently, partly in connection
with political discussions. I felt a slight dislike and could
not ward off a disagreeable sensation which seized me
whenever confessional differences took place in my presence.
At that time I did not look upon this question from any
other point of view.
There were only a very few Jews in Linz. In the course
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 67
of the centuries their external appearance had become
European and human; yes, I even looked upon them as
Germans. The nonsense of this notion was not clear to me,
since I saw the only distinguishing mark in their strange
religion. The fact that they had been persecuted on that
account (as I believed) turned my aversion against un-
favorable remarks about them almost into abhorrence.
I had no idea at all that organized hostility against the
Jews existed.
And so I arrived in Vienna.
Captivated by the mass of architectural impressions,
depressed by the burden of my fate, I was at first unaware
of the classification of the population in the huge city.
Although Vienna in those years already had two hundred
thousand Jews among its two million inhabitants, I did not
see them. During the first weeks, my eyes and my senses
The position of the Jews in Austria was far different from
what it was in Germany. Census figures for 1890 indicate that
there were 17,693,648 Catholics, and 1,143,305 Jews in the
Empire. Other groups — Greek Catholics, Protestants, etc. —
together numbered less than 4,000,000. The only really large
Jewish settlement in German Austria was in Vienna. Now
during the nineteenth century, two sources of conflict other
than economic class differences arose to plague the Habsburgs —
rising nationalist sentiment, which made every one of the
linguistic groups avid for special favors, and growing hostility
to the privileges accorded the Church.
Liberalism, increasing in importance after 1848, had con-
siderably strengthened the grip of educated Viennese Jews
upon the press and literary production. They were then
accused by the Catholic majority of having fomented antipathy
to the Concordat under which the Catholic Church then lived,
and more generally of spreading liberalistic ideas; and the
shifting of responsibility for ill-feeling from one party to an-
other became in time a normal feature of Austrian intellectual
68 MEIN KAMPF
were unable to take in the rush of so many new values and
ideas. Only after settling down, when the confused pictures
began to grow clearer, did I look at my new world more
attentively, and then I also came upon the Jewish problem.
I cannot say that I particularly liked the way in which
I was to become acquainted with them. I still saw nothing
but the religion in the Jew, and for reasons of human
tolerance I continued to decline fighting on religious
grounds. In my opinion, therefore, the language of the
anti-Semitic Viennese press was unworthy of the cultural
traditions of a great race. I was depressed by the memory of
certain events in the Middle Ages which I did not wish to
see repeated. Since the newspapers in question had not
a high reputation generally — for what reason I myself
did not exactly know — I saw in them more the products of
envious annoyance rather than the results of a fundamental
but incorrect opinion.
My own opinion was supported by what seemed to me
the much more dignified manner in which the really great
press replied to all these attacks, or, what I thought even
more worthy of respect, it did not mention them or ignored
them completely.
I zealously read the so-called world press (Neue Freie
and journalistic life. The differences might have been ironed
out in time if nationalistic sentiment — and the resultant
tendency to look upon Austria-Hungary as a * state of nations ' —
had not played its part. The Jews were looked upon as a
separate 4 nation ' side by side with Germans, Czechs, and others.
Consequently, even those Jews who became Catholics or
Protestants were no longer assimilated. By changing their
creed, they separated confessionally from a group to which
they were nevertheless bound 'nationally.' Theoretically, of
course, Jewish converts to Catholicism or Protestantism were
accepted as equals, but in practice an increasingly large number
of persons came to look upon such conversions as spurious.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 69
Presse, Wiener Tageblatt, etc.) and I was astonished at the
scope of what it offered its readers in general and at the
objectivity of the representation in detail. I respected the
dignified tone, though the extravagance of its style some-
times did not quite satisfy me and at times even displeased
me. But this was perhaps due to life in the metropolis in
general.
Since at that time I considered Vienna a metropolis,
I thought I was justified in letting the explanation I had
given myself pass for an excuse.
What repelled me sometimes, however, was the un-
dignified manner in which the press wooed the Court.
There was hardly any occurrence at the Hofburg which was
not reported to the reader either in raptures of enthusiasm
or in complaining amazement, especially when the 'wisest
of all monarchs' of all times was concerned, the fuss almost
resembled the mating cry of the mountain-cock.
To me this seemed artificial.
In my opinion liberal democracy was blemished by this.
To strive for the favor of the Court in such an indecent
manner signified ridiculing the dignity of the nation.
This was the first shadow to cloud my spiritual relation-
ship with the 'great' Viennese press.
In Vienna I continued, as I had done before, to follow
up all events in Germany with the fieriest enthusiasms, no
matter whether political or cultural questions were con-
cerned. With proud admiration I compared the rise of the
Hitler did not, therefore, share the prevailing Catholic
feeling that Jewish intellectuals and journalists were under-
mining the rights of the Church. He was a 'liberal9 in the
sense that he, though born a Catholic, refused to commit
himself seriously to one side of a religious discussion. What
annoyed him was that the 'liberal' newspapers, to a large
extent edited by Jews, defended the hated Habsburg House,
70 MEIN KAMPF
Reich with the decline of the Austrian State. But while
foreign political events gave me undivided joy, the less
enjoyable domestic affairs often distressed me. At that
time I did not approve of the fight that was being waged
against Wilhelm II. In him I saw not only the German
Emperor but also the creator of the German navy. The
restriction of speech which the Reichstag imposed on the
Kaiser annoyed me very much for the simple reason that
it was issued by that institution which in my opinion had
really no authority to do so, especially as during one single
session these parliamentarian ganders produced more
honking nonsense than a whole dynasty of emperors, its
sorriest weaklings included, could have produced in
centuries.
I was indignant at the fact that in a State where every
halfwit not only claimed the right to criticize, but where in
the Reichstag he was let loose on the nation as a ' legislator/
the bearer of the imperial crown could be given 'repri-
mands' by the greatest babbling institution of all time.
It infuriated me even more that the same Viennese press
which made the deepest curtsy even to the lowest of the
Court nags, and which was beside itself with joy at the
accidental waving of its tail, now with an apparently sorrow-
ful mien — but, as I thought, with ill-concealed malice —
expressed its objections against the German Kaiser. It was
advocated parliamentary government, and criticised the all-
highest — Kaiser Wilhelm II. Here is one reason why he
would later on throw German Catholics and Marxists into one
pot. Both were upon occasion critical of the Prussian znon-
archs, and both were dyed-in-the-wool advocates of parliamen-
tary procedure. In Austria he had no reason to make this
identification. Because they felt that the Habsburgs had often
failed to support the cause of the Church, numerous groups of
Catholics had waxed critical of the monarchy.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 71
farthest from its intentions to interfere with the affairs
of the German Reich — no, God forbid! — but by placing
a friendly finger on these wounds one fulfilled the duty
imposed by the mutual alliance, and on the other hand,
one's duty to journalistic truth, etc. Now this finger probed
about in the wound to its heart's content.
Such things made the blood rush to my head.
It was this that made me look upon the great press with
increasing caution.
I had to admit, however, that one of the anti-Semitic
papers, the Deutsche Volkszeitung, behaved better on one
of these occasions.
The disgusting veneration which the press even then
expressed for France got on my nerves. One had to be
ashamed of being a German when seeing these sweetish
hymns of praise to the 'great culture nation.' More than
once this wretched wooing of France made me put down
one of these 'world papers.' I turned more and more to the
Volksblatt, which I considered much smaller but which was
also much cleaner than the other papers as far as these
things were concerned. I did not agree with its sharp anti-
Semitic tone, but now and then I read explanations which
made me stop to think.
At any rate and because of this, I gradually learned to
know the man and the movement who ruled Vienna's
destiny: Doktor Karl Lueger and the Christian Socialist
Party.
Karl Lueger (1844-1910) founded the Christian-Social Party
(to which Dr. Engelbert Dollf uss and Dr. Kurt von Schuschnigg
belonged) on the basis of a program that combined a good
deal of progressive municipal legislation with a shrewd aware-
ness of the political values latent in popular anti-Semitism.
He had a Jewish ancestor in his family tree, had numerous
Jewish friends, and as Mayor of Vienna issued the slogan.
72 MEIN KAMPF
When I first came to Vienna I was inimical to both of
them.
In my opinion, the man and the movement were 're-
actionary/
f My usual sense of justice made me change this opinion
as I had the opportunity of getting acquainted with the
man and the movement; and slowly my fair judgment
turned into open admiration. Today more than before I look
upon this man as the greatest German mayor of all times.
How many of my deliberate opinions were thrown over
by my change of attitude towards the Christian Socialist
movement!
When because of this my opinions in regard to anti-
Semitism also slowly began to change in the course of time,
it was probably my most serious change.
This change caused me most of my severe mental strug-
4 1 am the one who decides who is a Jew.' Nevertheless Lueger's
newspaper, the Volksblatt read by Hitler, was so violently anti-
Semitic that the Archbishop of Vienna rebuked it in a Pastoral
Letter which denounced 'heathenish race hatred.' To this
Lueger retorted that to his great surprise and sorrow he found
that the Archbishop was 'liberal through and through.' Rome
took no definitive stand in the matter, the Papal Nuncio sup-
porting the Archbishop while Cardinal Rampolla, then Papal
Secretary of State, held a protecting hand over Lueger. The
Volksblatt is indubitably a storehouse of information on the
subject of Hitler's development. There one finds used, for
example, the word voclkisch — 'folkish,' i.e., pertaining to
one's people, which is both 'race' and 'nation.' Even more
delectable to Hitler were Lueger's constant brushes with the
Emperor. Into this same period of time there also falls the
origin of statements that the Talmud teaches pernicious ethics,
encouraging Jews to gouge their Christian neighbors in every
possible way. Dr. August Rohling's book, Der Talmud Judt
(The Talmud Jew), appeared in 1871, was widely read or
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 73
gles, and only after months of agonizing between reason
and feeling, victory began to favor reason. Two years later
feeling had followed reason, and from now on became its
most faithful guard and monitor.
In the period of this bitter struggle between spiritual
education and cold reasoning, the pictures that the streets
of Vienna showed me rendered me invaluable services.
The time came when I no longer walked blindly through
the mighty city as I had done at first, but, with open eyes,
looked at the people as well as the buildings. <•
One day when I was walking through the inner city,
I suddenly came upon a being clad in a long caftan, with
black curls.
Is this also a Jew? was my first thought.
At Linz they certainly did not look like that. Secretly
and cautiously I watched the man, but the longer I stared
at this strange face and scrutinized one feature after the
other, the more my mind reshaped the first question into
another form :
Is this also a German?
As was my custom in such cases, I tried to remove my
doubts by reading. For the first time in my life I bought
some anti-Semitic pamphlets for a few pennies. They all
started with the supposition that the reader already knew
the Jewish question in principle or understood it to a certain
quoted from in subsequent decades, and is still today the source
from which all such accusations derive. It was debated pro
and con at the time, being the object of litigation from which
Rohling withdrew. Doubtless Hitler's anti-Jewish prejudice
derives in part from his reading on this subject. For a Jewish
treatment of this matter, cf. Erinnerungen aus mcinem Lcben,
by Joseph S. Bloch (Vienna, 1922). For a succinct Catholic
summary, cf. Zeitalter des Individualismus, by L. A. Veit
(Freiburg, 193*)-
74 MEIN KAMPF
degree. Finally, the tone was such that I again had doubts
because the assertions were supported by such extremely
unscientific arguments.
I then suffered relapses for weeks, and once even for
months.
The matter seemed so monstrous, the accusations so
unbounded that the fear of committing an injustice tortured
me and made me anxious and uncertain again.
However, even I could no longer actually doubt that
they were not Germans with a special religion, but an
entirely different race; since I had begun to think about this
question, since my attention was drawn to the Jews, I began
to see Vienna in a different light from before. Wherever I
went I saw Jews, and the more I saw of them, the sharper
I began to distinguish them from other people. The inner
city especially and the districts north of the Danube Canal
swarmed with a people which through its appearance alone
had no resemblance to the German people.
Even if my doubts had continued, my hesitation was
finally dispelled by the attitude of part of the Jews them-
selves.
A great movement amongst them, which was widely
represented in Vienna, was determined to affirm the na-
tional character of Jewry: the Zionists.
It appeared as though only part of the Jews approved of
this attitude and the majority disagreed or even condemned
it. The appearance, when closely examined, dissolved itself
for reasons of expedience into an evil mist of excuses or
Zionism, as proclaimed and finally established by Theodor
Herzl, an Austrian Jewish poet, was undoubtedly the clear-
est manifesto of the difficulties in which Austrian Jews found
themselves. For it accepted a 'national' status for the Jew —
thus barring the route to assimilation — and added that such
a status led logically to the ideal of separate Jewish State.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 75
even lies. For the so-called liberal Jews did not deny the
Zionists for being non-Jewish, but for being Jews whose
open acknowledgment of their Jewish nationality was
impractical or even dangerous.
This did not alter their internal solidarity in the least.
Soon this apparent fight between Zionists and liberal
Jews disgusted me; it was unreal throughout, based on lies,
and little suited to the generally accepted high moral
standard and purity of this race.
The moral and physical cleanliness of this race was
a point in itself. It was externally apparent that these
were not water-loving people, and unfortunately one could
frequently tell that even with eyes closed. Later the smell
of these caftan wearers often made me ill. Added to this
were their dirty clothes and their none too heroic appear-
ance.
Perhaps all this was not very attractive; aside from the
physical uncleanliness, it was repelling suddenly to discover
the moral blemishes of the chosen people.
Nothing gave me more cause for reflection than the
gradually increased insight into the activities of Jews in
certain fields.
Was there any form of filth or profligacy, above all in
cultural life, in which at least one Jew did not partici-
pate?
When carefully cutting open such a growth, one could
tind a little Jew, blinded by the sudden light, like a maggot
in a rotting corpse.
The Jews' activity in the press, in art, literature, and the
theater, as I learned to know it, did not add to their credit
These criticisms do not reflect actual critical study of the
literature of the subject, but are echoes of Volksblatt editorials.
There were some Jewish scribes of an objectionable sort; and
they had their gentile bedfellows. To the great poets of
76 MEIN KAMPF
in my eyes. All unctuous assertions were of little or no
avail. It was sufficient to look at the bill-boards, to read
the names of those who produced these awful works for
theaters and movies if one wanted to become hardened
for a long time. This was pestilence, spiritual pestilence
with which the people were infected, worse than the Black
Death of former times! And in what quantities this poison
was produced and distributed! Of course, the lower the
spiritual and the moral standard of such an art manufac-
turer, the greater his fertility, till such a fellow, like a
centrifugal machine, splashes his dirt into the faces of
others. Besides, one must remember their countless num-
ber; one must remember that for one Goethe, Nature plays
a dirty trick upon mankind in producing ten thousand such
scribblers who, as germ carriers of the worst sort, poison the
minds of the world.
It could not be overlooked how terrible it was that the
Jew above all was chosen in so great a number for this
disgraceful task.
Was this to prove the fact that the Jews were the chosen
people?
Carefully I began to examine the names of those who
created these unclean products of artistic life. The result
had a devastating influence on my previous attitude to-
Jewish extraction, Hugo von Hoffmansthal or Karl Kraus for
example, the nationalists were just as ferociously indifferent
as they were to the literary efforts of Czechs and Hungarians.
This attitude was later on transplanted to Germany. Ques-
tioned as to German post- War literature, a member of Papen's
Cabinet retorted in 1933 that of course none of it could be any
good. A still more logical sequel was the ' burning of the books f
in Nazi Germany. Since then the official report on literature
written by racially inferior authors is eingestampft — i.e.,
reduced to pulp.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 77
wards the Jews. No matter how much my feeling resisted,
Reason had to draw its own conclusions.
The fact was not to be denied that ninety per cent of
all literary and artistic rubbish and of theatrical humbug
was due to a race which hardly amounted to one-hundredth
of all inhabitants of the country. Yet it was so.
Now I also began to examine my beloved 'world press'
from this point of view.
The deeper I probed, the more the subject of my former
admiration diminished. I could no longer stand its style,
I had to reject its contents on account of its shallowness,
the objectivity of ks presentation seemed untrue rather
than honest truth ; the authors, however, were — Jews.
Now I began to notice tj^MA9H**&i£hin&s which previ-
ously I had hardly seen^djE^giBBJI^attuierstand others
which had already ca^ff^Sf^lSS^^^^^,
Now I saw the lib«m-5intiide of th^^^sjain a different
light; its dignified lapjS^^^ff £9fiF^$> %tac^Si or its
completely ignoring IranK, w^mv^Sedrd twapj a trick as
clever as it was mWw\he^^riJHpa* thratripfl criticisms
always dealt with JewmK rathorel dna-ne^ecJold they attack
anyone except the G«finXThe sljgtft^ypricks against
Wilhelm II proved in mJ^ghsi^^c^J^^methods, and so
did the commendation of F^tejSaaBrfrore and civilization.
The trashy contents of the novel now became obscene, and
the language contained tones of a foreign race; the general
intention was obviously so detrimental to the German
nationality that it could only have been intentional.
But who had an interest in this?
Was it all a mere accident?
Slowly I became uncertain.
This development was accelerated by my insight into
a series of other events. This was the conception of manners
and morality as it was openly shown and exercised by
a great number of Jews.
7t MEIN KAMPF
Again the life in the street gave some really evil demon-
strations.
In no other city ot western Europe could the relationship
between Jewry and prostitution, and even now the white
slave traffic, be studied better than in Vienna, with the
possible exception of the seaports of Southern France.
When walking at night through the streets and alleys of the
Leopoldsstadt, with every step one could witness things
which were unknown to the greater part of the German
nation until the war gave the soldiers on the Eastern Front
an opportunity to see similar things, or rather forced them
to see them.
An icy shudder ran down my spine when seeing for the
first time the Jew as a cool, shameless, and calculating
manager of this shocking vic£, the outcome of the scum of
the big city. 'L ^f ^
But then my indignation flare*? upa
Now 1 did not evade the discussidn <$ the Jewish question
any longer; no, I sought itou^:. A§ Cj&rned to look for the
Jew in every field of our Cultural ajicj^ftistic l^e> I suddenly
bumped against him in a place where I* had never suspected.
The scales dropped J rom n\y eye^<lvhen I found the Jew
as the leader of SociaJ Dejpiocjrac^i This put an end to a
long internal struggle* v,, ^_, "*
f During my daily contact with my worker comrades, I was
struck by the changeability with which they demonstrated
different attitudes towards one and .the same question,
sometimes in the course of a few days, sometimes even after
a few hours. I could hardly understand how people who
expressed sensible opinions when talked to individually
suddenly changed their minds when influenced by the spell
of the masses. It often made me despair. After hours of
talking I often thought that I had broken the ice or cleared
up some nonsense and rejoiced at my success, only to find
to my dismay on the following day that I had to start all
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 79
over again; everything had been in vain. The madness of
their ideas seemed to swing back and forth like a pendulum
in perpetual motion.
I could still understand everything: that they were
dissatisfied with their lot and cursed Fate for hitting them
so hard ; that they hated the employers whom they looked
upon as the cruel executives of Fate; that they cursed the
authorities who in their eyes had no understanding for
their situation; that they demonstrated against the high
cost of living and marched in the streets to make their
demands; all this I could understand at least without re-
course to reason. But what I never understood was their
boundless hate towards their own nationality, how they
despised their national greatness, soiled its history and
abused its heroes.
The fight against one's own race, against one's own nest
and homeland, was as senseless as it was incomprehensible.
It was unnatural.
One could cure them temporarily of this vice, but only
for days or weeks at the most. If later one met the supposed
convert again, he had become the same as before.
The unnatural had taken hold of him again. <•
I gradually realized that the Social Democratic press
was headed primarily by Jews; but I did not attach special
importance to this fact, as it was the same with the other
newspapers. But one thing struck me: there was not one
paper that employed Jews which had a really national
tendency, as I understood it, based on my education and
attitude.
Now, although I made an effort and tried to read these
Marxian products of the press, my aversion was intensified ;
I tried to get better acquainted with the producers of this
mass of knavery.
80 MEIN KAMPF
They all were Jews from the publishers downwards.
I took all the Social Democratic pamphlets I could get
hold of and traced the names of their authors: they all were
Jews. I memorized the names of all the leaders; the greater
part of them were also members of the 'chosen people'; no
matter if they were representatives of the Reichsrat or
secretaries of the unions, presidents of organizations or
street agitators. One always found the same uncanny
picture. The names Austerlitz, David, Adler, Ellenbogen,
and so forth, will remain in my memory forever.
One thing had become clear to me: the party with whose
little representatives I had to fight the hardest struggle
during many months were almost entirely in the hands of
a foreign race; it brought me internal happiness to realize
definitely that the Jew was no German.
Only now I learned thoroughly to know the seducers of our
people.
Only a year of my stay in Vienna had sufficed to con-
vince me that no worker was so stubborn as not to give in to
better knowledge and better arguments. Gradually I be-
came acquainted with their own doctrine and I used it as
a weapon in the battle for my own internal conviction.
Now success was nearly always on my side.
It was possible to save the great masses, but only after
the greatest sacrifices of time and patience.
The theory of preponderant Jewish leadership in Austrian
Social Democracy is not substantiated by the facts. After
the War there were quite a number of Jewish intellectuals in
dominant positions, yet even then the Party leadership through-
out German Austria was overwhelmingly Aryan. Moreover the
Anschluss, though marked by wholesale arrests, was character-
ized by impressive leniency towards the former Socialists, who
suffered little in comparison with the Legitimists. This would,
of course, not have been the case had the Socialists been as
non-Aryan as Hitler here suggests.
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 81
But it was never possible to free a Jew from his convic-
tions.
At that time I was still naive enough to try to make
clear to them the madness of their ideas; in my small circle
I talked until my tongue was weary and till my throat was
hoarse, and I thought I could succeed in convincing them
of the destructiveness of their Marxist doctrine of irra-
tionality; but the result was only the contrary. It seemed
as though the increasing realization of the destructive
influence of Social Democratic theories would serve only to
strengthen their determination.
The more I argued with them, the more I got to know
their dialectics. First they counted on the ignorance of
their adversary; then, when there was no way out, they
themselves pretended stupidity. If all this was of no avail,
they refused to understand or they changed the subject
when driven into a corner; they brought up truisms, but
they immediately transferred their acceptance to quite
different subjects, and, if attacked again, they gave way
and pretended to know nothing exactly. Wherever one
attacked one of these prophets, one's hands seized slimy
jelly; it slipped through one's fingers only to collect again
in the next moment. If one smote one of them so thoroughly
that, with the bystanders watching, he could but agree, and
if one thus thought he had advanced at least one step, one
was greatly astonished the following day. The Jew did not
in the least remember the day before, he continued to talk
in the same old strain as if nothing had happened, and if
indignantly confronted, he pretended to be astonished and
could not remember anything except that his assertions
had already been proved true the day before.
Often I was stunned.
One did not know what to admire more: their glibness of
tongue or their skill in .lying.
I gradually began to hate them.
82 MEIN KAMPF
All this had one good side: in the measure in which the
bearers, or at least the propagators, of Social Democracy
caught my attention, my love for my own people grew.
Knowing the infernal versatility of these seducers, who
dared to condemn the unhappy victims? How difficult
I found it myself to master the dialectical lies of this race!
How futile was success with people who turned truth into
untruth, who denied the word that just has been spoken
only to claim it as their own the very next minute!
No. The better I learned to know the Jew, the more 1
had to forgive the worker.
In my eyes the fault was not his but theirs who did not
consider it worth while to take pity on him, to give the son
of the nation what was his due, and to smash the seducer
and corrupter against the wall.
Influenced by the experiences of everyday life, I myself
began to trace the sources of the Marxist doctrine. Its
workings had become clear to me in detail, my observant
eye daily watched its success, and with a little imagination
I was able to picture its consequences. The only remaining
question was whether its founders imagined the result ot
their creation in its ultimate form, or whether they them-
selves were victims of an error.
In my opinion both were possible.
On the one hand it was the duty of every thinking human
being to join the front ranks of the unhappy movement
to prevent the worst possible disaster; on the other, the
instigators of this national illness must have been devils
incarnate; only in the brains 'of a monster — not in the
brains of a human being — could the plan for an organiza-
tion take shape and meaning, an organization whose
activity must lead to the ultimate collapse of human
culture and with it the devastation of the world.
In this case the only remaining salvation was fight; a
fight with all weapons which the human mind, reason, and
YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING 83
will power are able to grasp, no matter which side will then
be favored by Fate.
Thus I began to make myself acquainted with the found-
ers of this doctrine, in order to study the principles of the
movement. The fact that I reached my goal more quickly
than I dared to hope at first was due to the knowledge I had
gained of the Jewish question, though at that time it had
not gone very deep. This alone made possible a practical
comparison between reality and the theoretical bragging of
the apostles who founded Social Democracy, as it had
taught me to understand the language of the people; they
talk in order to conceal or at least to veil their thoughts;
their real aim cannot be discovered on the lines, but slum-
bers well hidden between them.
This was the time in which the greatest change I was
ever to experience took place in me.
From a feeble cosmopolite I had turned into a fanatical
anti-Semite.
Only once more — it was the last time — I was sur-
rounded with depressing thoughts in my state of deepest
despair.
While thus examining the working of the Jewish race
over long periods of history, the anxious question suddenly
occurred to me whether perhaps inscrutable Destiny, for
reasons unknown to us poor mortals, had not unalterably
decreed the final victory of this little race?
Had this race, which always had lived only for this world,
been promised the world as a reward?
Have we the right to fight objectively for our self-
preservation, or is this rooted in us only subjectively?
While thoroughly studying the Marxist doctrine and by
looking at the Jewish people's activity with calm clarity,
Destiny itself gave me the answer.
The Jewish doctrine of Marxism rejects the aristocratic
principle in nature; instead of the eternal privilege of force
84 MEIN KAMPF
and strength, it places the mass of numbers and its dead-
weight. Thus it denies the value of the individual in man,
disputes the meaning of nationality and race, depriving
mankind of the assumption for its existence and culture.
As the basis of the universe it would lead up to the end of all
order conceivable to man. And as in this greatest discernible
organism only chaos could be the result of the application
of such a law, so on this earth the decline of its inhabitants
would be the result.
If, with the help of the Marxian creed, the Jew conquers
the nations of this world, his crown will become the funeral
wreath of humanity, and once again this planet, empty of
mankind, will move through the ether as it did thousands
of years ago.
Eternal Nature inexorably revenges the transgressions
of her laws.
Therefore, I believe today that I am acting in the sense
of the Almighty Creator: By warding off the Jews I am
fighting for the Lord's work.
CHAPTER III
GENERAL POLITICAL CONSIDERA-
TIONS FROM MY TIME IN VIENNA
I
f IT IS my conviction today that a man should not take
any active public part in politics before the age of thirty,
except in cases of outstanding ability. He should not do
so because up to that time the formation of a general plat-
form takes place from which he examines the various
political problems and defines his own final attitude to-
wards them. The man who has now matured at least
mentally may or should take part in the political guidance
of the community only after reaching a fundamental view
of life and, with it, a stability of his own way of looking
at the individual current problems.
If this is not the case, he runs the risk that some day he
will have to change his attitude towards vital questions,
or, despite his better knowledge and belief, to uphold
points of view which reason and conviction have long since
rejected. The first case is very embarrassing for him, for
now personally uncertain, he has no longer the right to
expect that his followers have the same unshakable belief
in him as before ; such a reversal on the part of the leader
brings uncertainty to his followers and frequently a certain
feeling of embarrassment as regards those they have been
fighting. But in the second case there may happen what
86 MEIN KAMPF
we so frequently see today: in the same measure in which
the leader no longer believes in what he said, his defense
will be hollow and shallow, and he will be base in his choice
of means. While he himself no longer thinks seriously of
defending his political revelations (one does not die for
something one does not believe in), the demands he makes
of his followers become greater and more impudent, till
finally he sacrifices what is left of the leader in order to
end up as a 'politician' ; that means that kind of man whose
only real conviction is to have no conviction, combined
with impudent obtrusiveness and the brazen-faced artful-
ness of lying.
If such a fellow, to the misfortune of decent people, be-
comes a member of a parliament, it should be known from
the beginning that the meaning of politics for him is only
the heroic struggle for the feeding bottle for himself and
his family. The closer his wife and children cling to it,
the more tenaciously will he stick to his mandate. This
alone makes all other men with political instincts his
enemies; in every new movement he suspects the possible
beginning of the end, and in every man greater than him-
self he scents the probability of a renewed danger which
threatens him.
I will speak of these parliamentary bedbugs in detail
later on.
A man of thirty will also have to learn a lot more in the
course of his life, but this will only be the supplement to,
and the filling-out of, the frame which his view of life
places before him. His learning will no longer be a re-
learning in principle, but an adding to what he has learned,
and his followers will not have to swallow the oppressing
feeling that so far he has taught them the wrong ideas;
on the contrary: the visible organic growth of the leader
will give them satisfaction, as his learning means only the
deepening of their own doctrine. This is, in their eyes,
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 87
the proof for the truth of the opinions they have held so
fan
The leader who has to give up the platform of his general
view of life because he found that it was wrong only acts
with decency if he is ready to face the ultimate consequences
from the realization that his previous views have been
wrong. In such a case he must for all future times renounce
at least all public political activity. As he has been already
once the victim of a basic error, the possibility exists that
this may happen a second time. On no account is he entitled
to continue to utilize, or even demand, the confidence of
his fellow citizens.
The general profligacy of the cads who today consider
themselves authorized to 'make' politics hardly lives up
to his standard of decency.
Hardly one of them is predestined for this task.
I restrained myself from appearing in public, though I
believe that I have occupied myself with politics more
than many others. I talked of what occupied my mind or
attracted me only in the narrowest circle. This speaking
within the most limited frame had many advantages; I
learned less to 'speak* than to gain an insight into the un-
believably primitive opinions and arguments of the people.
Thus I trained myself for my own further education with-
out losing time or ignoring opportunities. Nowhere in
Germany was the opportunity for this so favorable as in
Vienna at that time. •<•
The general political thinking in the old Danubian
monarchy was wider and more comprehensive in scope
than in the old Germany, except for parts of Prussia,
Hamburg, and the North Sea coast at that period. By
'Austria1 I mean, in this case, that part of the great Habs-
burg realm which, in consequence of its German coloniza-
88 MEIN KAMPF
don, not only gave in every respect the original conditions
for the formation of this State as a whole, but the popula-
tion of which showed that force that exclusively for many
centuries was able to give the inner cultural life to this
artificial formation. The more time advanced, the more
the existence and the future of this State depended on the
maintenance of this germ cell of the realm.
While the old hereditary lands represented the heart
of the realm which continuously pumped fresh blood into
the circulatory system of its political and cultural life,
Vienna combined its brains and will power.
Even the outward appearance of this city revealed the
force it required to rule as the uniting queen over this
conglomerate of nations, so that the splendor of her beauty
made one forget the signs of approaching age of the whole.
No matter how much the interior of the realm might
twitch during the bloody struggles of the various nationali-
ties, the countries abroad, especially Germany, saw only
the lovely picture of that city. The delusion was the greater
as Vienna in those days seemed to rise, perhaps for the last
time, visibly and higher than before. Under the rule of a
really ingenious mayor the venerable imperial residence
of the emperors of the old realm once more awoke to a
wonderfully young life. Officially, the last great German
whom the ranks of the colonizing people of the Ostmark
brought forth was not counted among the so-called 'states*
men* ; but while Doktor Lueger, as mayor of the 'capital
and the imperial residential city' of Vienna, produced as
if by magic one amazing achievement after the other in
nearly all domains of economic and cultural politics, he
strengthened the heart of the entire realm, and in this
roundabout fashion he became a statesman greater than
all the so-called 'diplomats' of that period put together.
If nevertheless the conglomeration of the nationalities
called 'Austria9 perished in the end, this does not speak
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 89
unfavorably in the least of the political ability of the
German nationality in the old Ostmark, for it was the in-
evitable result of the impossibility of trying to safeguard
permanently with the help of ten million people a State of
fifty million people of various nationalities, unless definite
suppositions were established in time.
The German-Austrian thought in more than large terms,
He was always accustomed to living within the frame of
a great realm, and he never lost his understanding for the
tasks connected with it. He was the only one in this State
who saw, beyond the boundaries of the narrow crownland,
the frontiers of the Reich ; even when Destiny finally sepa-
rated him from the common motherland, he still tried to
master the enormous task and to guard for the German
nationality what his forefathers once had wrested from
the East in never-ending struggles. Whereby one should
remember that this could only be done with divided energy ;
for the hearts and the memories of the best men never
ceased to feel sympathy for the common motherland, and
only the rest remained to the homeland.
The German-Austrian's general horizon already was
comparatively wide. His economic relations frequently
included almost the entire many-sided realm. Nearly all
great enterprises were in his hands, he supplied the greater
part of the leading technical experts and officials. But he
was also the representative of the foreign trade, as far
as the Jew had not laid his hands upon this domain which
had been his of old. As regards politics the German alone
held the State together. Even the period of the military
service in the army thrust him far across the narrow borders
of the homeland. Though the German-Austrian recruit
might enlist in a German regiment, it might as possibly be
stationed in Herzegovina as in Vienna or Galicia. The
officers' corps was still German and so was predominantly
the body of officials. Finally, art and science were German.
90 MEIN KAMPF
Apart from the trash of the modern development of art,
which might just as well have been produced by a Negro
race, the German was the sole owner and propagator of a
truly artistic mind. In music, architecture, sculpture, and
painting, Vienna was the fountain which in inexhaustible
profusion supplied the entire dual monarchy without ever
visibly drying up.
Finally, the German nation was also the pillar of the
entire field of foreign politics, if one excepted a small
number of Hungarians.
Yet every attempt at preserving the realm was in vain,
since the essentials were missing.
In the Austrian State of nationalities there was but one
way by which it could conquer the centrifugal forces of its
various nations. Either the State was governed from the
center and organized in the same way internally, or it
was altogether unthinkable.
This knowledge dawned on the Very highest1 authority
in various enlightened moments, but in most cases it was
soon forgotten or put aside as being too difficult to be
carried out. Every idea of giving the realm a more feder-
alistic form was bound to fail in consequence of the absence
of a strong germ cell of superior force in the State. To this
was added the various other internal conditions of the
Austrian State which in principle differed from those of
the German Reich of Bismarck. In Germany, the main
problem was only to overcome political tradition, as there
always had been a common cultural basis. But the Reich,
with the exception of a few foreign splinters, possessed only
members of one race.
In Austria the situation was the reverse.
Here the political memory of the various nations' own
greatness, except for Hungary, was either entirely lacking,
or it had been wiped out by the sponge of time, or at least
was blurred and indistinct. To make up for this, in the
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 91
period of the development of the principle of nationalities,
the various countries began to develop popular forces; the
conquering of these forces became the more difficult as
nation-States began to form themselves on the border of
the monarchy whose people were either similar or racially
related to the individual Austrian national splinters and
they were now able to exercise a greater force of attraction
than that possible to the German -Austrian.
Even Vienna was not able to keep up this fight in the
long run.
With Budapest's development into a capital, Vienna
was for the first time faced with a rival whose task was no
longer the concentration of the entire monarchy, but rather
the strengthening of one of its parts. After a short time
Prague was to follow this example, then came Lemberg,
Laibach, etc. With the rise of these one-time provincial
towns to national capitals of the individual countries,
there were now also formed centers for a growing independ-
ent cultural life. It was only through this that the national
political instincts now received their spiritual foundation
and depth. Thus the time was bound to come when the
driving forces of the individual nationalities became more
powerful than the force of their combined interests, and
then Austria would be done for.
Since the death of Joseph II, the course of this develop-
ment could be distinctly traced. Its speed depended on a
series of factors which were partly rooted in the monarchy
itself, but which were, on the other hand, the results of the
position of the realm in foreign politics.
If the struggle for the preservation of the State was to
be taken up seriously and fought to a finish, a ruthless and
persistent centralization alone could lead to the goal. But
the homogeneity was to be stressed by the establishment
in principle of a uniform State language, while the admin-
istration was to be given the technical instrument without
92 MEIN KAMPF
which such a State simply cannot exist. Only then could
permanent uniform State consciousness be cultivated
through schools and education. This could not be achieved
in the course of ten or twenty years; one had to count on
centuries, as in all questions of colonization persistency
plays a more important rdle than the energy of the moment.
That the administration and the political guidance have
then to be carried out in strict uniformity is obvious.
It is now very enlightening for me to establish why this
did not happen, or rather, why it had not been done. Only
he who was guilty of this omission was also guilty of the
collapse of the realm.
Old Austria, more than any other State, depended on
the greatness of its leaders. Here the foundation of the
national State was missing, which always possesses a power
of preservation in its national basis, no matter how weak
the leaders may be. The uniformly national State, thanks
to the inherent indolence of its inhabitants and the powers
of resistance connected with it, can sometime sustain itself
for astoundingly long periods of incompetent administration
or government, without thereby destroying its internal
existence. Often it seems as though there were no more
life in such a body, as though it were dead and done for,
till suddenly the supposedly dead rises again and gives the
rest of mankind astonishing proofs of its imperishable
force of life.
It is different, however, with a realm which is not com-
posed of similar nationalities and which is not kept to-
gether by common blood but by a common fist. Here
every weakness of the leadership will not cause the State
to hibernate, but it will cause an awakening of all individual
instincts which are present by virtue of blood and race,
but which have no chance of developing in times of pre-
dominating will power. Only centuries of common educa-
tion, common tradition, common interests, etc.. can miti-
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 93
gate this danger. Therefore such State formations, the
younger they are the more will they depend on the compe-
tence of the leadership; even if they are the works of men
of overwhelming force and of spiritual heroes, they will
fall to pieces after the death of their one great founder.
But even after centuries these dangers cannot be regarded
as overcome; they merely slumber, and often awake quite
suddenly as soon as the weakness of the common leader-
ship, the force of education, and the sublimity of all tradi-
tions are no longer able to overcome the sweep of the in-
dividual vital instinct of the various tribes.
The failure to understand this is perhaps the tragic guilt
of the House of Habsburg.
For only one of them did Fate uphold the torch over the
future of his country, then it was extinguished forever.
Joseph II, Roman Emperor of the German Nation, saw
with trembling fear that his house, pushed toward the
most remote corner of the realm, was bound to disappear
in the maelstrom of a Babylon of nationalities unless the
shortcomings of his forefathers were made good in the
eleventh hour. This 'friend of man' opposed with super-
human force the neglect of his ancestors and tried to
recover, in the course of a decade, what centuries had let
Joseph II (1765-1790) was actuated by a desire to strengthen
the power of Austria, and believed the means to be adopted
were a strong central government and a policy of Germaniza-
tion. The official language was to be German; the Church was
to be subordinated to the State, its servants being treated as
dependent on the government in the normal sense of the civil
service; and the universities were to teach, in the German lan-
guage, whatever would serve to produce a well-trained official.
These policies embroiled Austria in cultural strife of so serious
an import that most of Joseph's laws were abrogated before
his death.
94 MEIN KAMPF
slip by. Had he been granted forty years for his work, and
had only two generations continued after him to carry out
what he had begun, then the miracle would probably have
been achieved. But when he died after a reign of hardly
ten years, worn out in body and soul, his work was en-
tombed with him never to be awakened again and went to
sleep in the crypt of the Capucins forever.
His followers were unequal to the task, either in spirit
or in will power.
When the first revolutionary flashes of lightning of a
new era flamed through Europe, Austria also began gradu-
ally to catch fire. But when at last the fire broke out, it
was fanned not so much by social or general political causes,
but rather by impulsive forces of national origin.
The revolution of the year 1848 may have been a class
war everywhere else, but in Austria it was the beginning of
a new race struggle. The German, forgetting or not ac-
knowledging his origin, sealed his own doom by entering
into the service of the revolutionary movement. He helped
in awakening the spirit of Western Democracy which after
a short time deprived him of the foundation of his own
existence.
The foundation stone for the end of the German nation-
ality's domination in the monarchy was laid by the forma-
tion of a parliamentary body of representatives without the
establishment and the solidification of a common State
language. But from this moment on the State itself was
doomed. Everything that now followed was only the
historical liquidation of a realm.
It was as shocking as it was instructive to trace this
dissolution. This execution of an historical sentence was
carried out in thousands and thousands of individual
forms. That the gods willed the destruction of Austria
was proved by the fact that a goodly part of the people
marched blindly through the signs of decline.
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 95
I do not wish to lose myself in details, as that is not the
purpose of this book. I want to include in the circle of
closer observation only those events which are the constant
causes of the decline of nations and States and which
possess significance for our era as well, and which finally
helped to guard the principles of my political thought.
Among the institutions which might have revealed the
disintegration of the Austrian monarchy, to the bourgeoisie
who were not blessed with very sharp eyes, was one which
should have chosen strength as its greatest quality — the
parliament, or, as it is called in Austria, the Reichsrat.
Obviously, the example for this body was situated in
England, the country of classical 'Democracy.1 The entire
blissful arrangement was transplanted from that country
to Vienna with as little change as possible.
The English two-chamber system celebrated its resur-
rection in the Abgeordnetenhaus and the Herrenhaus.
Only the 'houses' themselves were somewhat different.
When Barry's Houses of Parliament reared themselves out
of the waters of the Thames, he thrust his hand into the
history of the British Empire and drew from it the decora-
tions for the twelve hundred niches, consoles, and pillars
of this magnificent building. Thus in sculpture and paint-
ing the House of Lords and the Commons became the
temple of the nation's glory.
This was the first difficulty Vienna encountered. When
the Danish Hansen had completed the last pinnacle on
the marble building of the new diet, he had no choice but
to borrow decorations from the ancient Greeks and Ro-
mans. Roman and Greek statesmen and philosophers now
embellish this theater building of 'Western Democracy,'
and on top of the two houses, in symbolical irony, the
quadrigae [sic] pull away from each other towards the four
96 MEIN KAMPF
corners of the globe, thus giving the truest external expres-
sion of what was then going on internally.
The 'nationalities' considered the glorification of Austrian
history in this work an insult and a provocation, just as in
the Reich proper one did not dare to consecrate Wallot's
building, the Reichstag, to the German people until the
thunder of the World War's battles roared.
I was not quite twenty years old when I went for the
first time into the magnificent building on the Franzenring,
in order to attend a meeting of the House of Deputies as a
spectator and auditor, and I was filled with the most
contradictory feelings.
I had always hated the parliament, yet not at all as an
institution in itself. On the contrary, as a liberal thinking
man I could not imagine any other possible form of govern-
ment, for my attitude towards the House of Habsburg
being what it was, I would have considered any kind of
dictatorship a crime against all liberty and reason.
In consequence of my thorough reading of newspapers
in my youth, I had been inoculated with a certain admira-
tion for the English parliament, although I probably did
not suspect it, and this fact, which I was not able to give
up so easily, contributed not a little to my attitude. The
dignity with which there the House of Commons devoted
itself to its task — our press know how to describe it so
nicely — made a great impression on me. Was there a
more dignified form of self-government of a nation any-
where?
For this very reason, however, I was an enemy of the
Austrian parliament. In my opinion the entire form of its
behavior was unworthy of its great prototype. But now the
following was added :
The fate of the German nationality in the Austrian State
was dependent on its position in the Reichsrat. Up to the
introduction of general suffrage and the secret ballot, a
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 97
German majority existed in parliament, insignificant though
it was. But this condition was precarious, for Social De-
mocracy, with its unreliable attitude, always turned against
the German interests so as not to estrange the followers of
the individual foreign nationalities — whenever critical
questions concerning the German nationality were in-
volved. Social Democracy could not be considered a
German party even at that time. With the introduction
of general suffrage, the German numerical superiority ceased
to exist. Now the last obstacle to the de-Germanization
of the State was removed.
For this reason my national instinct of self-preservation
did not inspire me with any love, for a representation of
the people by which the German nationality was never
'represented* but always 'betrayed.' But like so many
other things, these were faults that were not due to the
matter itself, but were to be attributed to the Austrian
State. In those days, I still believed that with the re-
establishment of the German majority in the representative
bodies I would no longer have any reason for objections on
general principles, as long as the old State continued to exist.
With all this in mind, I entered for the first time the
sacred and much-disputed rooms. For me, however, they
were only sacred because of the sublime beauty of the
magnificent building. It was a Hellenic miracle on German
soil.
But how indignant I was, even after a short time, when
seeing the miserable comedy that was going on before my
eyes.
t Several hundred of these representatives of the people
were present who at that moment had to decide about a
question of important economic significance.
The first day sufficed to give me food for thought for
many weeks.
The spiritual content of what was said was on a truly
98 MEIN KAMPF
depressing 'high level/ as far as the talk was at all intel-
ligible; for some of the gentlemen did not speak German,
but their Slavic mother tongue or rather dialects. What I
had only known from reading the papers, I now had an
opportunity of hearing with my own ears. It was a gesticu-
lating mass, shrieking in all keys, wildly stirred, presided
over by a good-natured old uncle who, by the sweat of his
brow, tried to re-establish the dignity of the House by
violently ringing a bell and by alternately kind and earnest
remonstrances.
I could not help laughing.
A few weeks later I was again in the House. The picture
had changed, it was hardly recognizable. The hall was
empty. Down below everybody was sleeping. Some of
the deputies were in their seats and yawned at each other,
one of them 'spoke.' A vice-president of the House was
present, looking around the hall, visibly bored.
My first doubts arose. Now, whenever time permitted,
I went there repeatedly, and quietly and attentively
watched the scene of the moment, listened to the speeches
as far as they were intelligible, studied the more or less
intelligent faces of those elect of the nations of this de-
plorable State — and gradually I formed my own opinions.
One year of this quiet observation sufficed to change,
or to wipe out entirely, my former opinion of the nature of
this institution. Now my mind no longer objected to this
misshapen form which this idea had assumed in Austria;
no, now indeed I was no longer able to accept parliament
as such. So far I had seen the misfortune of the Austrian
parliament in the absence of a German majority, but now
I saw its doom in the makeup and nature of this institution
altogether.
Quite a number of questions occurred to me at that time.
I began to familiarize myself with the democratic prin-
ciple of decision by a majority as the basis of this entire
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 99
institution, but I paid no less attention to the spiritual
and moral values of the gentlemen, who, chosen by the
nation, were supposed to serve this purpose.
Thus I learned to know the institution, and at the same
time, its representatives.
In "the course of a few years, therefore, my knowledge
and realization created the type of the most dignified
representative of modern times with plastic clarity: the
parliamentarian. He began to make an impression on me in
a form which never again underwent a fundamental change.
This time, also, practical reality with its object lessons
had guarded me against suffocating in a theory which at
first sight appears so tempting to many people, but which
nevertheless must be counted among the symptoms of the
decay of mankind. <•
Democracy of the West today is the forerunner of
Marxism, which would be inconceivable without it. It is
democracy alone which furnishes this universal plague
with the soil in which it spreads. In parliamentarianism,
its outward form of expression, democracy created a
'monstrosity of filth and fire' (Spottgeburt aus Dreck und
Feuer) in which, to my regret, the 'fire' seems to have
burned out for the moment.
I have to be more than thankful to Fate that it also
made me examine this question while I was still in Vienna,
for I feel that had I been in Germany I would have found
the answer too easily. Had I become acquainted with this
ridiculous institution called 'parliament' for the first time
in Berlin, I probably would have gone to the opposite
extreme and would have joined the side of those who see
the salvation of the nation and the Reich in the exclusive
promotion of the Imperial power alone, and who thus
blindly and incomprehensibly confront mankind and the
times.
In Austria this was impossible.
100 MEIN KAMPF
Here it was not so easy to fall from one mistake into
another. If parliament was worth nothing, the Habsburgs
were worth still less, certainly no more. Here the rejec-
tion of 4 parliamentarianism ' alone would not do ; for then
the question, 'What now?' still remained. The rejection
and abolition of the Reichsrat would have left the House
of Habsburg as the sole governmental power, and this
idea was especially unbearable to me.
The difficulty of this special case led me to a more
thorough consideration of the problem as a whole than
would otherwise have taken place at such an early age.
First and most of all that which gave me food for thought
was the visible lack of responsibility on the part of any
single individual.
Parliament makes a decision the consequences of which
may be ever so devastating — nobody is responsible for
Hitler's argument is: the Germans of 1848 were led to water
the principles which had guided their absolutistic leaders with
'western democracy/ The essence of this democracy is (he
holds) the grant of the right of franchise and representation
to all citizens, with the result that an outlet is provided for the
hitherto suppressed cravings of the masses. These want, how-
ever, constantly to improve their lot, and so demand from
rather than give to the State. Marxism is the theory which
most effectively and audaciously sponsors the needs of the
largest and most destitute group, and therefore the movement
which exacts most from the State. In Austria the Socialists were
particularly reprehensible because their relentless champion-
ing of the class struggle obliterated ' national ' boundaries and
therewith weakened the position of the Empire's rightful rulers,
the Germans. In Germany the strength of democracy, symbol-
ized by the Reichstag, was far less impressive. This Reichstag
had some rights of importance, but waged a continuous struggle
to exercise them as a matter of fact. If Hitler had been in
Berlin, therefore, he might possibly have been content with the
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 101
it, nobody can ever be called to account. For, does it mean
assuming responsibility if, after an unheard-of collapse,
the guilty government resigns? Or if the coalition changes,
or even if parliament dissolves itself?
Is it at all possible to make a wavering majority of
people ever responsible?
Is not the very idea of all responsibility closely con-
nected with the individual?
Is it practically possible to make the leading person of a
government liable for actions, the development and execu-
tion of which are to be laid exclusively to the account of
the will and the inclination of a large number of men?
Or must not the task of the leading statesman be seen
in the birth of a creative idea or plan in itself, rather than
in the ability to make the ingenuity of his plans under-
stand taken by the Conservatives and as a consequence never
have seen that salvation can come only from a dictatorship.
Compare his statement at the Niirnberg Party Conference
of 1935 : 'To build up the public service and the army in accord-
ance with the law of personal responsibility and at the same
time to fashion the general political direction of the State
according to the principles of parliamentary democracy —
that is, of irresponsibility — is bound to prove impossible.
The democratic state, in its insecurity, proved helpless against
the onslaughts of Bolshevistic Judaism. Confronted with this
danger, monarchy was found to be equally ineffectual. So were
the Christian confessions.'
Elaborate theories of totalitarianism have since been devel-
oped in number by German professors and writers. It may be
doubted, however, whether they have more than an academic
significance. On the other hand, Hitler's criticism of democracy
as powerless to ward off Bolshevism had a profound effect
upon the thinking of the middle classes. It is clear from the
German newspapers of 1931 that many had begun to think
that the only choice remaining to them was one between
102 MEIN KAMPF
standable to a flock of sheep and empty-heads for the pur-
pose of begging for their gracious consent?
fls this the criterion of a statesman that he masters
the art of persuasion to the same extent as that of the
diplomatic shrewdness in the choice of great lines of direc-
tion or decision?
Is the inability of a leader proved by the fact that he
does not succeed in winning the majority of a crowd of
people for a certain idea, dumped together by more or
less fine accidents?
Has this crowd ever been able to grasp an idea before
its success was proclaimed by its greatness?
Is not every ingenious deed in this world the visible
protest of genius against the inertia of the masses?
But what is the statesman to do who does not succeed
in winning, by flattery, the favor of this crowd for his plans?
Is he to buy it?
Or is he now, considering the stupidity of his fellow
citizens, to give up the carrying-out of the tasks he recog-
nizes as of vital importance, or is he to retire, or should
he still remain?
Does not, in such a case, a real character find himself
in an inextricable dilemma between knowledge and de-
cency, or rather honest conviction?
Where is the border that separates duty towards the
community from the obligations of personal honor?
Must not every real leader refuse to be degraded in such
a way to the level of a political profiteer?
And must not, on the other hand, every profiteer feel
Mussolini and Stalin. This feeling grew until the carefully
planned Reichstag fire (both Centrist ex-Chancellors, Dr. Wirth
and Dr Brtining, declared in public addresses a few days after
the event that it had been carefully planned) of 1933 made
large groups of voters feel that Communism was upon them.
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 103
himself called on to 'make1 politics, as it is not he who
bears the ultimate responsibility, but rather some incom-
prehensible crowd?
Must not our parliamentary principle of the majority
lead to the demolition of the idea of leadership as a whole?
Or does one believe that the progress of the world has
originated in the brains of majorities and not in the head
of an individual?
Or are we of the opinion that in the future we can do
without this preliminary presumption of human culture?
Does it not, on the contrary, appear more necessary
today than ever before? <<•
The parliamentary principle of decision by majority, by
denying the authority of the person and placing in its
stead the number of the crowd in question, sins against
the aristocratic basic idea of Nature, whose opinion of
aristocracy, however, need in no way be represented by
the present-day decadence of our Upper Ten Thousand.
The reader of Jewish newspapers can hardly imagine the
devastation which results from this institution of modern
democratic parliamentary rule, unless he has learned to
think and examine for himself. It is above all the cause
of the terrible flooding of the entire political life with the
most inferior products of our time. No matter how far
the true leader withdraws from political activity, which
to a great extent does not consist of creative work and
achievement, but rather of bargaining and haggling for the
favor of a majority, this very activity, however, will agree
with and attract the people of low mentality.
The more dwarfish the mentality and the abilities of
such a present-day leather merchant are, the more clearly
his knowledge makes him conscious of the wretchedness of
his actual appearance, the more will he praise a system
that does not demand of him the strength and the genius
of a giant, but rather which calls for the cunning of a
104 MEIN KAMPF
village chief or which even prefers this kind of wisdom to
that of a Pericles. Such a simpleton need never worry
about the responsibility of his actions. He is relieved of
this care for the reason that he knows, no matter what the
result of his 'statesmanlike' bungling may be, that his
end has long been predicted by the stars; some day he
will have to make room for another, an equally great mind.
It is, among other things, a symptom of such a decline
that the number of great statesmen increases in the meas-
ure in which the competence of the individual one de-
creases. With increasing dependence on parliamentary
majorities, he is bound to shrink, for great minds will
refuse to serve as bailiff for stupid good-for-nothings and
babblers, and on the other hand, the representatives of the
majority, that is, of stupidity, hate nothing more ardently
than a superior mind.
For such an assembly of wise men of Gotham, it is
always a comforting feeling to know that they are headed
by a leader whose wisdom corresponds to the mentality
of the assembly; for, is it not pleasant to let one's intellect
flash forth from time to time, and finally, if Smith can be
master, why not Jones also?
This invention of democracy most closely conforms to
a quality which lately has developed into a crying shame,
that is, the cowardice of a great part of our so-called
'leaders.' How fortunate to be able to hide, whenever
decisions of importance are involved, behind the coat-tails
of a so-called majority!
One has only to watch such a political footpad to see
how he anxiously begs for the consent of the majority for
every action so that he may secure the necessary accom-
plices, so as to be able to cast off responsibility at any
time. But this is one of the chief reasons why such political
activity is loathsome and hateful to a really decent, and
therefore courageous, man, while it is attractive to all
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 105
wretched characters — and he who is not willing personally
to assume the responsibility for his acts, but looks for
cover, is a cowardly wretch. As soon as the leaders of a
nation consist of such wretched fellows, vengeance will
follow soon after. One will no longer be able to manifest
the courage for decisive action; one would undergo any
humiliating dishonor rather than make up one's mind ; be-
cause there is nobody who is ready to risk his person and
his head for the carrying-out of a ruthless decision.
One thing we must and may never forget: here, too, a
majority can never replace the Man. It is not only always
a representative of stupidity, but also of cowardice. Just
as a hundred fools do not make one wise man, an heroic
decision is not likely to come from a hundred cowards.
The easier the responsibility of the individual leader is,
the more will the number of those grow who, even with the
most wretched dimensions, will feel called upon to put
their immortal energies at the disposal of the nation. Yes,
they can hardly await their turn; lined up in a long queue,
they count the number of those waiting ahead of them
with sorrowful regret, and they figure out the hour when in
all human probability their turn will come. Therefore, they
long for every change in the office they aspire to, and are
grateful for every scandal that thins out the ranks ahead
of them. But if one of them refuses to vacate the place
he has taken, they almost consider it a breach of the sacred
agreement of mutual solidarity. Then they become vin-
dictive, and do not rest till the impudent fellow, finally
overthrown, puts his warm place at the disposition of the
community. He will not regain his place quite so soon.
For as soon as one of these creatures has been forced to give
up his post, he will again try to push himself into the rows
of the 'waiting,' provided he is not prevented from doing
so by the outcry and the abuse of the others.
The result of all this is the terrifyingly rapid change in
106 MEIN KAMPF
the most important positions and offices in such a State
entity, a result which is unfavorable in any case, but which
sometimes is even catastrophic. But now not only the
stupid and inefficient will be victims to this custom, but
even more so the true leader, provided Fate is able at al!
to place him in that position. Once this has been realized,
a united front of defense will be formed, especially if such
a head, not originating from the ranks, nevertheless tries
to force his way into this sublime society. They want to
be by themselves on general principles, and hate a head,
which could turn out to be number one among all these
naughts, as a common enemy. In this direction the instinct
is the sharper, no matter how much it may lack in other
respects.
Thus the consequence will be an ever-increasing intel-
lectual impoverishment of the leading classes. Anyone can
judge what the results will be for the nation and the State
if he does not personally belong to this kind of 'leaders.'
fOld Austria already had parliamentary government in
its purest breeding.
Of course, it was the emperor and king who appointed
the prime minister, but this appointing was nothing but
the carrying-out of the parliamentary will. The bargaining
and trading for the individual ministers' offices, however,
was Western Democracy of the purest water. The results,
of course, were in keeping with the principles applied. The
change of personalities especially took place in even shorter
periods of time, till finally it would become a regular chase.
Also, the intellectual dimensions of the occasional 'states-
men' shrank more and more, till finally there remained
only that small type of parliamentary profiteers whose
value as statesmen was measured and acknowledged ac-
cording to the ability with which they succeeded in pasting
together the coalition of the moment ; that means carrying
out the smallest political trading transactions which alone
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 107
are able to justify the suitability of these representatives
for practical action.
Thus the Viennese school rendered the best insight in
these fields.
I was attracted no less by the comparison between the
abilities and knowledge of these people's representatives
and the tasks awaiting them. Whether one wanted to or
not, one had to inspect more closely the intellectual horizon
of these elected ones of the nations, whereby one could
not avoid also paying the attention necessary to those
events which led to the discovery of these magnificent
specimens of our public life.
Also the way and the manner in which the real abilities
of these gentlemen were applied and put in the service
of the fatherland, which is the technical side of their ac-
tivities, was worthy of being examined and closely scruti-
nized.
The entire picture of parliamentary life became the more
miserable the more one decided to penetrate into these
internal situations and to study basic facts with ruthless
and sharp objectivity. Indeed, one may apply this method
towards an institution which leads one to point, by its
supports, to this very 'objectivity1 as the only justified
basis for examination and defining of attitude. Therefore,
one had better examine these gentlemen and the laws of
their bitter existence, and the result will be surprising.
There is no principle looked at objectively that is as
wrong as the parliamentary principle.
Here we must also disregard entirely the manner in
which the people's representatives are elected, and how
as a whole, they attain their offices and their new ranks.
That only the smallest fraction of the common will or need
is fulfilled here must be apparent to anyone who realizes
that the political understanding of the great masses is not
sufficiently developed for them to arrive at certain general
108 MEIN KAMPF
political opinions by themselves and to select suitable
persons. <•
What we mean by the word 'public opinion1 depends
only to the smallest extent on the individual's own ex-
periences or knowledge, and largely on an image, frequently
created by a penetrating and persistent sort of so-called
1 enlightenment.'
Just as confessional orientation is the result of education,
and religious need, as such, slumbers in the mind of man,
so the political opinion of the masses represents only the
final result of a sometimes unbelievably tough and thor-
ough belaboring of soul and mind.
By far the greatest bulk of the political 'education,'
which in this case one may rightly define with the word
1 propaganda,' is the work of the press. It is the press above
all else that carries out this 'work of enlightenment,' thus
forming a sort of school for adults. This instruction, how-
ever, does not rest in the hand of the State, but partly in
the claws of very inferior forces. As a very young man in
Vienna, I had the very best opportunity of becoming
really acquainted with the owners and spiritual producers
of this machine for educating the masses. At the beginning
I was astonished how short a time it took this most evil of
all the great powers in the State to create a certain opinion,
even if this involved complete falsification of the wishes
or opinions in the minds of the public. In the course of a
few days a ridiculous trifle was turned into an affair of
State, whereas, at the same time, problems of vital im-
portance were dropped into general oblivion, or ratherf
were stolen from the minds and the memory of the masses.
So they succeeded, in the course of a few weeks, in con-
juring up some names out of nothing and attaching incred-
ible hopes to them on the part of the great public, in even
giving them a popularity which the really important man
may never attain during his whole lifetime; names which.
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 109
in addition, nobody had even heard of only a month before,
whereas at the same time old and trustworthy representa-
tives of public or political life, though in the bloom of
health, simply died in the minds of their contemporaries, or
they were showered with such wretched abuses that soon
their names were in danger of becoming the symbol of
villainy and rascality. It is necessary to study this infa-
mous Jewish method with which they simultaneously and
from all directions, as at a given magic word, pour bucket-
fuls of the basest calumnies and defamation over the clean
garb of honest people, in order to appreciate the entire
danger of these rascals of the press.
Then, too, there is hardly anything which does not suit
the purposes of such an intellectual robber baron in order
to reach his end.
Then he spys into the most secret family affairs and
does not rest till his truffle-searching instinct finds some
trifling event destined to bring about the unfortunate
victim's fall. But even if the most thorough nosing about
does not stir up anything at all in his victim's public or
private life, then such a fellow will turn to calumny with
the firm conviction that not only something of it will stick
to his victim, despite thousandfold refutation, but that,
in consequence of the hundredfold repetition of the calum-
nies by all his accomplices, the victim is in most cases
\ The propagandistic usefulness of snooping around in the
private lives of opponents was recognized early by anti-
clericals in Austria, and the lesson has not been lost on the
Nazis. The Volkischer Beobachter (Hitler's official daily) and
its immediate predecessors, Dietrich Eckart's Auf gut Deutsch,
reveled in stories purporting to be based on the private lives
of wealthier Jews. The terrain was later extended to take in
the secret orgies of the Republic's officials, the Nacktbatt (dance
in the nude) being a specialty. Gradually Julius Streicher's
110 MEIN KAMPF
unable to fight it; the motives of these scoundrels are never
those which would be comprehensible or credible to others.
God forbid! Such a rascal, by attacking the rest of his
dear contemporary world in such an infamous fashion,
wraps himself, like a cuttlefish, in a cloud of decency and
unctuous phrases; he talks of 'journalistic' duty and simi-
lar mendacious stuff; he even goes so far that during ses-
sions and congresses — occasions when one sees this plague
assembled in greater numbers — he twaddles of a special,
that is, journalistic, "honor/ of which the assembled rascals
bumptiously assure one another.
This rabble, however, manufactures more than two-
thirds of the so-called 'public' opinion, and out of its foam
rises the parliamentary Aphrodite.
One would have to write volumes to describe this pro-
cedure correctly in its entire mendacity and untruthful-
ness. However, if one leaves this out of account, and
Sturmer outdistanced all rivals, becoming the world's champion
illustration in pornographic defamation. More important, no
doubt, was the use to which records taken from Catholic dio-
cesan and monastic archives were put after 1934. Hundreds
of trials for 'immorality' brought priests, religious, and lay-
folk to court. Many were declared guilty; and even the inno-
cent found themselves under a permanent cloud by reason of
the difficulty with which such charges can be refuted. One
amusing instance of how such stories were spread concerns
Walther Rathenau, Foreign Minister in the Wirth Cabinet.
He gave a dinner one evening for eighteen diplomats; and the
next morning a very correct and honorable official came to call
on the Chancellor. 'I regret having to warn Your Excellency
against Heir Rathenau/ he said. 'But it is shocking — last
night he dined with eighteen naked ladies.' 4I know all about
it,' Dr. Wirth replied, 'I was there myself. But come into the
next room and meet some of the ladies.' The surprised official
was then introduced to half a dozen diplomats.
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 111
looking only at the resulting product together with its
activity, it should suffice that the objective lunacy of this
institution would dawn on even the most orthodox
mind.
It will be easiest to understand this absurd and danger-
ous human error if one compares the democratic parliamen-
tarianism with true Germanic democracy.
The characteristic of the first is that a number of say
five hundred, men and recently also women, are elected,
who are entrusted with the final decision on everything.
They alone practically represent the government, for
though they elect the cabinet which to all outward appear-
ances seems to take on the guidance of the State's affairs,
this is nevertheless mere pretense. In reality, this so-called
government cannot take one step without having first
These passages reflect dissatisfaction with parliamentary in-
stitutions as the foes of the Republic saw them after 1918.
The German Reichstag was during these years probably the
intellectual and moral equal of any parliament in the world.
Yet, apart from the difficulties with which it was steadily con-
fronted and which naturally added little to its popularity, it
was handicapped by the fact that, when compared with the
gentry and nobility who had ruled before the War, its spokes-
men and ministers were 'little people.' Even Ernst Trdltsch,
a great scholar and in his way a democrat, could not avoid that
feeling. Newspapers loyal to the Republic could jest that there
was hardly a man in the government who knew how to enter-
tain at dinner. Nothing worse could be said about Matthias
Erzberger, who signed the armistice and then became Minister
of Finance, than that he had been 'only a school-teacher';
and few were honestly proud that Friedrich Ebert had once
worked as a saddler. The result was that many honest parlia-
mentarians— especially among the Social Democrats — suf-
fered from what is often termed an inferiority complex. After
the depression of 1929 set in, these feelings were intensified and
112 MEIN KAMPF
obtained the consent of the general assembly. Therefore,
it cannot be held responsible for anything at all, as it is
not the government which has the ultimate decision, but
the majority of parliament. In all cases, therefore, the
government is only the executive of the will of the major-
ity. We could judge its political ability only by the skill it
shows either in adapting itself to the will of the majority,
or in winning it over. But then it sinks from the height of
a real government to that of a beggar appealing to the
majority. Its most important task now consists of securing
either the favor of the majority, from case to case, or of
taking upon itself the formation of a more gracious new
majority. If it succeeds in this, then it may continue to
'rule* for a short time longer, but if it does not, it must go.
Whether its intentions are right or not is of no consequence.
mixed with hatred. The petty sums received by the 'little men '
as delegates to the Reichstag were magnified into fabulous
salaries; and many were afraid to go to the theater lest they be
accused of undue prodigality. But after the Nazis came to
power, all was different. During 1937, Dr. Goebbels authorized
a film showing his beautiful new villa and its lawns. The re-
ception was so bad that the picture had to be withdrawn.
Thereupon Der Angriff, Goebbels's newspaper, denounced all
those who * muttered around ' that the Nazis were now strutting
about in the top hats they had found so reprehensible on the
heads of their predecessors. 'These critics forget/ the com-
mentator wrote, ' that those we once stigmatized were skunks . . .
while those who now represent the State are men who have
achieved a great deal in four years. An American delegation
cannot be asked to dine on sausage and sauerkraut by people
going around in their shirtsleeves. They must be entertained
as they are accustomed to being entertained, for we expect
them to put in a good word for us when they return home.
That is why we wear top hats and cutaways. That is also why
we build villas/
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 113
fBut with this all responsibility is practically excluded.
To what consequences this now leads follows from a
quite simple consideration :
The internal composition of a group of these five hundred
representatives, measured according to profession or abil-
ities of the individual, gives a picture that is as confused
as it is pitiful. For one cannot expect that these elected
ones of the nation are also the elect of intellect or even of
common sense! And I hope that one does not think that
from the ballots cast by a body of voters which is anything
but clever, the statesmen will come forth by hundreds!
On the whole, one cannot contradict too sharply the
absurd opinion that men of genius are born out of general
elections. First, there is only one real ' statesman ' once in
a blue moon in one nation and not a hundred or more at a
time; and second, the masses' aversion to every superior
genius is an instinctive one. It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than that a great man is 'dis-
covered ' in an election.
What really stands out of the norm of the great masses
generally personally announces its arrival in world history.
So that it is five hundred men of more than modest com-
petence who vote on the most important concerns of the
nation; they appoint governments which, in turn, in each
single case and in each special question, have to obtain the
consent of the illustrious assembly, and thus politics are
actually made by five hundred men.
And it usually looks like it, too.
Even when not speaking of the genius of these people's
representatives, one should consider the different kind of
problems awaiting solution and how widely spread the
fields are in which solutions and decisions are to be made,
and one will well understand how unfit this form of govern-
ment must be for this task which puts the right of final
decisions into the hands of a mass assembly of people, of
114 MEIN KAMPF
whom only a small portion has the knowledge and experi-
ence required by the affairs under consideration. Thus the
most important economic measures are brought before a
forum, while only one-tenth of its members can evidence
any economic training. This means nothing short of plac-
ing the final decision of affairs into the hands of men who
entirely lack all qualification for this task.
This is also the case with all other questions. They
will always be decided by a majority of ignoramuses and
incompetents, since the composition of this institution re-
mains unchanged, while the problems to be dealt with
extend to nearly all fields of public life, and therefore would
require a continuous change of the deputies who have to
judge and to decide them. It is indeed impossible to permit
affairs of transportation to be passed upon by the same
people who deal with a question, let us say, of high foreign
politics. Indeed, they would all have to be universal gen-
iuses, such hardly as come forth once in centuries. Un-
fortunately, in most cases they are not at all ' heads, ' but
narrow-minded, vainglorious, and arrogant amateurs, an
intellectual demi-monde of the worst kind. From this there
often results the inconceivable carelessness with which
these gentlemen discuss and decide on affairs which would
give even the greatest minds cause for careful reflection.
Measures of the gravest importance for the future of an
entire State, even of a nation, are taken, as though a hand
of Schqffkopf [a game of cards especially popular in Southern
Germany] or taroc, which would certainly suit them better,
were before them on the table and not the fate of a race.
But it would certainly be unjust to believe that each
of the deputies of such a parliament was always endowed
with so slight a feeling of responsibility.
No, not at all.
But because this system forces the individual to define
his attitude towards questions for which he may not be
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 115
suited, it gradually spoils the character. None of them
would have enough courage to declare: 'Gentlemen, I
think we don't understand anything about this question.
At least I can say that with certainty as far as I am con-
cerned.1 (Besides, this would hardly make any difference,
for such honesty would certainly not be understood, and
they would hardly permit the game to be spoiled by such
an honest ass.) Those who know human beings will under-
stand that in such an illustrious society nobody likes to be
the most stupid, and in certain circles, honesty is synony-
mous with stupidity.
Thus a representative, at first still honest, is forced into
the path of general mendacity and deceit. The very con-
viction that the individual's non-participation would not
alter the matter in the least stifles any honest impulse
which perhaps may rise in one or the other deputy. Finally,
he will persuade himself that he is not the worst by far
among the others and that his participation might perhaps
even prevent greater evil.
Of course, one will now raise the objection that the indi-
vidual deputy has actually but little understanding for
the one or the other matter; that in coming to a decision
he is advised by the parliamentary faction as the leader of
the policies of the gentlemen in question ; that this faction
always has its special committees which are more than
amply advised by experts.
At first sight this seems to be correct. Then the question
would still be: Why does one elect five hundred if only a
few of them have sufficient wisdom to define their attitudes
towards the most important matters?
This, then, was the gist of the matter! [Ja, darinliegt
eben des Pudels Kern. A paraphrase of a line in Goethe's
Faust.} «*
It is not the object of our present-day democratic parlia-
mentarianism to form an assembly of wise men, but rather
116 MEIN KAMPF
to gather a crowd of mentally dependent ciphers which
may be more easily led in certain directions, the more lim-
ited the intelligence of the individual. Only thus can
parties make politics in the worse sense of the word today.
Only thus is it also possible that the actual wirepuller is
able to remain cautiously in the background without ever
being personally called to account. Because no decision,
no matter how detrimental it is to the nation, can now be
charged to the account of a rascal who is in the public eye,
but it is dumped on the shoulders of an entire faction.
With this, however, all responsibility is practically re-
moved, because it can only be the duty of an individual
and never that of a parliamentary assembly of babblers.
This institution can be pleasing and valuable only to
the most mendacious sneaks who carefully shun the light
of day, whereas it must be loathsome to every honest and
straightforward fellow who is ready to assume personal
responsibility.
Therefore, this kind of democracy has become the instru-
ment of that race which shuns the sunlight because of
its internal aims, now and for all time. Only the Jew can
praise an institution that is as dirty and false as he is
himself.
*
This system is opposed by the true Germanic democracy
of the free choice of a leader with the latter's obligation to
take over fully all responsibility for what he does or does
The legend of the 'freely chosen German leader* was proba-
bly born in the fertile brain of Houston Stewart Chamberlain,
a Britisher who became an uncompromising Pan-German dur-
ing the years preceding 1914 and who buttressed this contention
with a theory of race superiority derived in part from Count
Arthur de Gobineau, author of books which attributed the
success of the 'supermen' of the Renaissance to their 'Aryan'
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 117
not do. There will be no voting by a majority on single
questions, but only the decision of the individual who backs
it with his life and all he has.
If the objection were raised that under such circum-
stances no one could be found ready to devote himself to
such a hazardous task, there can be one reply:
God be thanked, this is just the meaning of Germanic
democracy, that no unworthy climber or moral shirker can
come in the back way to rule his fellow citizens, but that
the greatness of the position to be assumed will discourage
incompetents and weaklings.
But should, nevertheless, such a fellow try to sneak in,
then he will be easily found out and ruthlessly rebuffed:
Out with you, cowardly wretch ! Step back, you are soiling
blood. It has since become a favorite topic of conversation.
Not a few Nazi authors have attempted to unearth instances
of such leadership. Favorite candidates from early Germanic
history are Arminius, Widukind the Saxon King, and Genseric
the Vandal chieftain. In Nazi usage the word Fuhrer (leader)
has a very special connotation, difficult for an outsider to
understand. The Fdhrcr is a man who gives expression to the
divinity that is enshrined in his people — a ' Traumlaller* (one
who speaks oracularly in his dreams), in George Schott's
phrase. Gottfried Feder, author of the Party program, once
described the Fiihrer as follows : ' He must have a somnambu-
listic feeling of certainty. ... In the pursuit of his goal, he must
not shrink from bloodshed or war even/ For many, perhaps
for himself, Hitler is the German Messiah, whose kingdom is
to last thousands of years, even as has that of Christ. Hitler,
too, began with a small number of disciples — the first group
was of the mystic number seven — one or the other of whom
proved unfaithful. Addressing Nazi congresses, he has fre-
quently stressed his ability to wait until 'what is in the folk-
sour dictates the course he is to pursue. That is why he con-
tinuously needs assurance that the folk is actually one in spirit
118 MEIN KAMPF
the steps; the front stairs leading to the Pantheon of
History is not for sneaks but for heroes!
1 had come to this opinion after an internal struggle dur-
ing the two years in which I visited the Viennese parlia-
ment.
Thereafter I never went again.
The parliamentary r6gime had a great share in the
progressive weakening of the old Habsburg State during
the past few years. The more the superiority of the German
nationality was broken up through its efforts, the more
recourse was taken to a system of playing off the various
nationalities against one another. In the Reichsrat this
always was done at the expense of the Germans and so,
in the last instance, at the expense of the realm; for at the
turn of the century even the most simple-minded had to
realize that the monarchy's power of attraction was no
with him. The various plebiscites serve much the same pur-
pose as would a mesmerist's look round to see whether the
members of a group are joining hands. Hitler believes that
ninety-nine per cent of the German people support him, and
refuses to weigh evidence to the contrary. Accordingly any
German who resists him is a pariah, a blasphemer against the
decree of the German providence. Dr. Schuschnigg, who under-
stood these things not at all — who fully believed that if the
Nazis gained Austria he could resume his law practice — has
been kept in confinement since March, 1938, for having sinned
against the light. Hitler's anti-Semitism must likewise be
weighed on this scale. It was out of gratitude to the German
God for the successes of 1938 that he decreed the pogrom of
November 9. He said earlier: ' I believe today that I am acting
in the sense of the Almighty Creator: By warding off the Jew*
I om fighting for the Lord's work'
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 119
longer able to counteract the individual countries' en-
deavors towards separation.
On the contrary.
The poorer the means became which the State had at its
disposal for its preservation, the higher rose the general
contempt for it. Not in Hungary alone, but also in the
individual Slav provinces, the people felt themselves so
little identified with the common monarchy that its weak-
ness was not looked upon as their own disgrace. They
rather rejoiced over the signs of approaching old age;
because they hoped more for its death than for its con-
valescence.
In parliament, the complete collapse was further pre-
vented by an undignified submission and fulfillment of all
and every extortion, for which the Germans then had to
pay; in the realm this was done by a clever playing-off of
the individual nations against one another. But the gen-
eral line of development was directed against the Germans.
Especially since his succession to the throne began to give
some influence to the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, order
and organization were brought into the Czechization car-
ried out from above. With all possible means this future
ruler of the dual monarchy tried to facilitate and to pro-
mote personally, or at least to shield, the de-Germanization
of the realm. Thus purely German places were slowly but
steadily pushed into the danger zone of mixed languages
by roundabout official means. Even in Lower Austria this
process began to progress rapidly, and many Czechs already
considered Vienna as their biggest city.
The leading idea of this Habsburg, whose family spoke
only Czech (his wife, a former Czech countess, had married
the prince morganatically; she came from circles in which
the anti-German attitude was traditional) was gradually
to form a Slav State in Central Europe to be founded on a
strictly Catholic basis, as a protection against Orthodox
120 MEIN KAMPF
Russia. In this manner, as the Habsburgs had done previ-
ously on several occasions, religion once more was placed
in the service of a purely political idea, above all — at least
from the German point of view — of an unfortunate idea.
The result was more than deplorable in many respects.
Neither the House of Habsburg nor the Catholic Church
received the expected reward.
Habsburg lost the throne, Rome a great State.
By using religious forces for political purposes, the crown
awakened a spirit which it had not at first thought possible.
The attempt to extinguish Germanism in the old mon-
archy by all possible means was answered by the Pan-
German movement in Austria.
fin the eighties, Manchester Liberalism, with a basic
Jewish tendency, had reached or already passed its climax
in the monarchy. Reaction against it came, as was the
case with everything in old Austria, not primarily from
social, but from national, points of view. Its instinct of
self-preservation forced Germanism to offer the sharpest
possible resistance. Only in the second instance economic
considerations began to gain a decisive influence. Thus out
of the general political muddle emerged two party forma-
tions, the one with a more national, the other with a more
social, tendency, but both extremely interesting and in-
structive for the future.
After the depressing end of the war of 1866, the House
of Habsburg harbored the idea of a revenge on the battle-
field. Only the death of Emperor Max [sic] of Mexico,
whose unfortunate expedition was attributed primarily to
Napoleon III, and whose abandonment by the French
roused general indignation, prevented a closer co-operation
with France. Yet Habsburg was on the watch. Had the
war of 1870-71 not become such a uniquely victorious cam-
paign, the Court of Vienna would probably have risked the
bloody game of a revenge for Sadowa. But when the first
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 121
amazing and incredible heroic tales arrived from the battle-
fields, yet true, then the 'wisest* of all monarchs recognized
that the hour was inconvenient, and ho had to grin and
bear it as best he could.
But the heroic fight of these two years had achieved a
still greater miracle ; for the Habsburgs a changed attitude
never corresponded to an impulse of the heart, but to the
pressure of circumstances. The German people in the old
Ostmark were carried away by the victorious ecstasy of the
Reich, and, deeply moved, saw the dreams of the fore-
fathers resurrected to glorious reality.
For let there be no mistake : the really German-minded
Austrian had recognized at Koeniggraetz the tragic though
necessary condition for the resurrection of a realm which
should not be, and which actually was not, afflicted with
the foul marasmus of the old union. He thoroughly learned
to understand, by his own experience, that the House of
Habsburg had now finally ended its historical mission, and
that the new realm was to elect as emperor only one who,
through his heroic character, could offer a worthy head to
the 'Crown of the Rhine/ How much more was Fate to
be praised because it carried out this investiture on a
member of a House which in the person of Frederick the
Great had in times past given to the nation a brilliant
symbol for the rise of the nation forever. <•
When after the Great War the House of Habsburg
started with utmost determination to root out, slowly but
steadily, the dangerous Germanism of the dual monarchy
(about whose inner conviction there could be no doubt) —
for this would mean the end of the policy of Slavization —
the resistance of this doomed people broke out in a way
that the German history of modern times had never known.
For the first time men with national and patriotic feel-
ings became rebels.
Rebels, not against the nation, not against the State as
122 MEIN KAMPF
such, but against a form of government which in their
opinion was bound to lead their own nationality to its
doom.
For the first time in modern German history, traditional
dynastic patriotism separated from national love for
country and people.
It was the merit of the Pan-German movement in Austria,
during the nineties, that it clearly demonstrated beyond a
doubt that a State authority can only demand respect and
protection as long as it corresponds to the desires of a
nationality and at least does not harm it.
There can be no State authority as a means in itself, as
in that case all tyranny on earth would be unassailable and
sacred.
If a people is led to destruction by the instrument of
governmental power, then the rebellion on the part of each
and every member of such a nation is not only a right but a
duty.
The question, however, when such a case arises, is not
decided by theoretical treatises but by force — and suc-
cess.
As every governmental power naturally claims the right
of preserving the authority of the State, no matter how
inferior it is or that it has betrayed the concerns of the
nation a thousand times, the f olkish instinct of self-preserva-
tion, when subduing such a power in order to gain freedom
or independence, will have to use the same weapons with
which the adversary is trying to hold his own. The struggle
will be carried on with * legal ' means as long as the power to
be overthrown uses such means; but one will not hesitate
to use illegal weapons if the oppressor also uses them.
But in general it should never be forgotten that not the
preservation of a State or a government is the highest aim
of human existence, but the preservation of its kind.
But once the latter itself is in danger of being oppressed
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 123
or abolished, then the question of legality plays only a
subordinate r6le. Then it may be that the ruling power
may use a thousand so-called 'legal' means, yet the in-
stinct of self-preservation of the oppressed then is always
the most sublime justification for their fighting with all
weapons.
Only by acknowledging the above principle were the
wars of rebellion, against enslavement from within and
without, carried on in such great historical examples.
Human rights break State rights.
But if a nation succumbs in its struggle for the rights of
mankind, then it was probably found weighing too lightly
in the scales of destiny to justify its good fortune of being
allowed to continue on this mortal globe. For if a man is
not ready or able to fight for his existence, righteous Provi-
dence has already decreed his doom.
The world is not intended for cowardly nations.
fBut how easy it is for a tyranny to drape itself with
the mantle of so-called 'legality* is again shown most
clearly and definitely by Austria's example.
The legal State authority of that period was rooted in
the anti-German soil of parliament with its non-German
majorities — and also in the ruling anti-German dynasty.
The entire State authority was incorporated in these two
factors. To attempt to change the fate of the German-
Austrian people from this point was nonsense. In the opin-
ion of our admirers of the only possible 4 legal ' way and of
the State authority itself, all resistance would have had to
be relinquished because it could not be carried out by legal
means. But this would have meant the end of the German
people within the monarchy — in a very short time. As a
matter of fact the German nation was only saved from such
a fate by the collapse of this State.
124 MEIN KAMPF
The bespectacled theorist, however, would rather die ior
his doctrine than for his people.
Because it is men who first make the laws, he thinks that
they afterwards exist for these laws.
To have thoroughly swept out this nonsense, much to
the alarm of all theoretical dogmatists and other govern-
mental insular fetishists, was the merit of the Pan-German
movement in Austria at that time.
As the Habsburgs tried to attack the German nationality
with all possible means, this party in turn now attacked
the 'exalted ' ruling house itself in the most ruthless manner.
For the first time it probed into this foul State and opened
the eyes of hundreds of thousands. It is to the credit
of the party that it freed the glorious idea of patriotism
from the embrace of this deplorable dynasty.
At the time of its first appearance, the number of its fol-
lowers was so enormous that it even threatened to develop
into a very avalanche. But the success did not last. When
I came to Vienna, the movement had long been overshad-
owed, and had even been almost reduced to insignificance,
by the Christian Socialist Party which had come into
power in the meantime. •<•
The entire process of the rise and decline of the Pan-
German movement, on the one hand, and of the unheard-of
rise of the Christian Socialist Party, on the other, was to
gain the greatest importance for me as a classical object for
study.
When I came to Vienna, my sympathies were fully and
wholly on the side of the Pan-German movement.
That one had the courage in parliament to shout 'Heil
Hohenzollern ' impressed me as much as it infinitely pleased
me; that one considered oneself only temporarily separated
from the Reich, and that no occasion was overlooked to
manifest this publicly, awakened joyous confidence in me ;
the fact that one openly demonstrated one's opinion in all
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 125
questions concerning German nationality and that one
never yielded to compromises seemed to me the only way
still open for the salvation of our people; but that the
movement, after its first glorious rise, had sunk so deeply,
this I could not understand. I could understand far less
that at the same time the Christian Socialist Party was
able to rise to such enormous power. It had just reached
the zenith of its glory at that time.
When I tried to compare the two movements, Fate, ac-
celerated by my otherwise miserable situation, here also
gave me the best instruction for the understanding of the
causes of this riddle.
I begin my reflections at first with the two men who
may be looked upon as the leaders and the founders of the
two parties : Georg von Schoenerer and Doktor Karl Lueger.
From the purely human point of view they stand out,
the one as well as the other, far above the frame and the
dimensions of the so-called parliamentarian types. In the
George von Schoenerer (1824-1921) was the mouthpiece of
a pan-Germanistic hatred of the Jews which found expression
in violent speeches. The beer hall was a favorite Schoenerer
assembly room. But though his diction was crude, his followers
were recruited from the upper middle classes and blended hatred
of the Habsburgs and the Catholic Church with anti-Semitism.
Nevertheless he had not a few sympathizers even among the
clergy. Funds to support the movement were supplied by
extremist Protestant groups in Germany, and Schoenerer him-
self became a Protestant in a wave of secession from the
Catholic Church that was the greatest Austria had known since
the Reformation. The principal tenet of his political doctrine
was that the Jews had undermined the national economy and
therewith created the social problem, which in turn was costing
much money. Close to Schoenerer was the Ostara group, the
publication sponsored by whom is an important source of more
modern anti-Semitic propaganda.
126 MEIN KAMPF
swamp of general political corruption, their entire lives
remained pure and unimpeachable. Nevertheless, at first
my personal sympathy was more with the Pan-German
Schoenerer, and then gradually turned to the Christian
Socialist leader.
Comparing their abilities, Schoenerer seemed to me even
then the better and more thorough thinker in fundamental
problems. He recognized more clearly and more correctly
than anyone else the inevitable end of the Austrian State.
Had one listened more attentively to his warnings, espe-
cially in the Reich, about the Habsburg monarchy, then
the misfortune of the World War which placed Germany
against all Europe would never have come.
But if Schoenerer recognized the internal nature of the
problems, he was wrong as regards the people.
That was again the strength of Doktor Lueger.
He was a rare judge of human nature, especially on his
guard against believing that men were better than they
were. Therefore, he took more into account the real possi-
bilities of life, while Schoenerer showed little understanding
for this. Everything the Pan-German thought was correct
from the theoretical point of view; but while the force and
the understanding were lacking with which to transmit the
theoretical knowledge to the masses — that means to
bring it into a form which was in keeping with their per-
ceptive ability, which is and will always be limited — all
knowledge was only prophetic wisdom and had no chance
ever to become reality.
This lack of an actual knowledge of human nature,
however, led later on to an error in the evaluation of the
forces of entire movements as well as of age-old institu-
tions.
But Schoenerer finally had recognized that the questions
involved were those of various views of life, but he had not
understood that above all only the great masses of a people
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 127
are suited to be the bearers of such almost religious con-
victions.
Unfortunately, he understood only to a very small
degree the extreme limitation of the will to fight in the so-
called 4 bourgeois ' circles, in consequence of their economic
situation which makes the individual fear to lose too much
and therefore holds him back.
And yet, a view of life may in general only hope for
victory if the broad masses, as the bearers of the new doc-
trine, declare themselves ready to take upon themselves
the necessary fight.
From this lack of understanding of the importance of
the lower classes there resulted also a totally insufficient
conception of the social question.
In all this Doktor Lueger was the reverse of Schoenerer.
His thorough knowledge of human nature made him
The phrase 'religious faith' would seem to reflect Georges
Sorel's theory of the revolutionary myth as expounded in his
Reflexions sur la violence. It is improbable, however, that
Hitler ever saw the book, and in addition there are important
differences between Sorel's conception and Hitler's. Nor is the
affinity with Friedrich Nietzsche, often taken for granted, in
any sense real. It may well be that Sorel and Nietzsche induced
many German intellectuals to join the Nazi movement, but the
reasoning was clearly erroneous. Hitler subscribes to no
doctrine of the superman. His strength and originality lie in
the fact that he identifies himself with the masses in so far as
these want to arm for national aggrandizement. It does not
matter how much the individual component man or woman in
these masses knows or what he or she is, so long as willingness
is present to be subordinate to the instinct of common 'self-
preservation* — i.e., organization for the conquest of whatever
is necessary to extend the sway of the folk as a whole. The
leader is he who most strongly senses the needs and desires of
the unified nation, and not he who — as Nietzsche and Stefan
128 MEIN KAMPF
estimate the possible forces just as correctly, as he was also
prevented by this from underestimating existing institu-
tions, and perhaps for this very reason he learned to use
them as instruments in attaining his aims.
He also understood only too well that in our time the up-
per bourgeoisie's energy for a political fight was only limited
and not sufficient to help a great movement to victory.
Therefore, he put the weight of his political activity on win-
ning over those classes the existence of which was threat-
ened, and this, therefore, became a stimulant rather than an
impediment of the will to fight. In the same way he was in-
clined to use all the instruments of power already existing,
and to gain the favor of influential institutions, in order to
be able to draw the greatest possible advantage for his own
movement from such old-established sources of power.
So he based his party primarily on the middle classes
which were threatened with extinction, and so assured him-
self a group of followers almost impossible to unnerve,
filled with a readiness for sacrifice as well as with a tough
fighting strength. His infinitely clever policy towards the
Catholic Church won for him in a short time the younger
clergy to such an extent that the old Clerical Party was
either forced to leave the battlefield or, more wisely still,
to join the new party in order thus slowly to regain one po-
sition after the other.
If one were to consider this the sole characteristic of his
George believed — makes use of the * slaves ' in order to assure
the triumph and happiness of a more regal aristocracy than
the world has known. In short, for all his elements of patriotic
mysticism, Hitler is no Platonist, but a Spartan in the simplest
sense. That is why Germans have found it so difficult to resist
him. As one of them has put it, ' He flatters us all into acqui-
escence.' It may be added that when Hitler says that the
'psyche of the masses is feminine/ he is echoing Gustav Le Bon.
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 129
nature, one would do him a grave injustice. For to the
clever tactician were added the qualities of a really great
and ingenious reformer. Also here, of course, his actions
were limited by the exact knowledge of already existing pos-
sibilities and also by the abilities of his own person.
It was an infinitely practical goal which this really im-
portant man had set for himself. He wanted to conquer
Vienna. Vienna was the heart of the monarchy, and it was
from this city that the last bit of vitality went out into the
ailing and aging body of the decaying realm. The healthier
the heart should become, the more freshly would the rest of
the body revive. A fundamentally correct idea, which, how-
ever, was applicable only for a prescribed and limited
time.
And therein lay the weakness of this man.
What he achieved, as mayor of the city of Vienna, is im-
mortal in the best sense of the word ; however, he was not
able to save the monarchy, it was too late.
This his adversary Schoenerer had realized more
clearly.
Doktor Lueger succeeded in everything he attacked prac-
tically ; the result he had hoped for did not come.
Schoenerer did not succeed in what he wanted, but what
he feared occurred in an only too terrible manner.
Thus neither man achieved his broader goal. Lueger
was no longer able to save Austria, and Schoenerer could
not save the German people from decline.
Now, it is infinitely instructive for our time to study the
causes of this failure of both parties. This is especially use-
ful for my friends, as in many points circumstances are to-
day similar to those of that period, and thus mistakes may
be avoided which had already brought about the end of the
first movement and the frustration of the second.
In my eyes there were three causes for the collapse of the
Pan-German movement in Austria :
130 MEIN KAMPF
First, the confused conception of the importance of social
problems for a new party, the inner nature of which was
revolutionary.
Inasmuch as Schoenerer primarily turned to the bour-
geois classes, the result could only be a very weak and tame
one.
The German bourgeoisie in its higher circles, though the
individual is not aware of this, is pacifistic to the degree of
self-denial, where the domestic affairs of the nation or of the
State are concerned. In good times — that means in times
under a good government — such an attitude is a reason for
the extreme value which these classes have for the State;
in times of bad government, however, it has a really de-
vastating effect. In order to make the carrying-out of a
really serious struggle possible at all, the Pan-German move-
ment should have devoted itself to winning over the masses.
The fact that it did not do so took from it at the beginning
the elementary impetus that such a wave requires if it is
not to ebb after even a short time.
But as soon as this principle is not observed and carried
out from the beginning, the new party loses all chances to
This passage gains in interest when one compares it with the
tactic adopted by the Nazis after their political victory of
September, 1930. They now entered the Reichstag in hitherto
unparalleled numbers; but from the beginning they refused to
accept any responsibility for what was being done and con-
tinuously disrupted and hampered the proceedings. Some
individual members were willing to share the burden of legisla-
tive activity, but they were not permitted to have their way.
Initially the 107 elected parliamentarians had marched into the
Reichstag clad in brown uniforms. Outside the building, groups
of partisans demonstrated, and when police detachments ap-
peared they marched off to the Leipzigerstrasse and smashed
the windows of Jewish shops. Later disturbances were even
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 131
make up later for what it had neglected. For now, with
the admission of extremely great and moderate bourgeois
elements, the internal attitude of the movement will always
shape itself towards these, and thus it will lose all hope of
ever winning any worth-while forces from the great masses
of the population. What is more such a movement will not
get over the stage of pale [sic] grumbling and criticizing.
The more or less almost religious belief, combined with a
similar readiness for sacrifice, will never be found again;
whereas it might probably be replaced by the endeavor to
polish gradually the harsh sides of the struggle by ' positive*
co-operation; that means, in this case, by recognition of
given facts, so that finally one will arrive at a foul peace.
So it also happened to the Pan-German movement, be-
cause it had not laid enough stress on winning its followers
from the circles of the great masses at the start. It achieved
a ' bourgeois dignity, mutedly radical/
From this mistake resulted the second cause of its rapid
decline.
The German nationality's situation in Austria was al-
ready desperate at the time when the Pan-German move-
ment appeared. From year to year parliament had become
an instrument for the gradual destruction of the German
people. Only the abolition of this institution could promise
more grotesque. But with Hindenburg's re-election in 1931 the
prestige of the Nazi Party began to fade, only to be revived
again when Chancellor Brtining was dismissed and the govern-
ment entrusted to Franz von Papen against the will of the
Reichstag. Papen thereupon systematically undermined the
Republic, so that it was virtually defenseless when in 1933
Hitler was entrusted with the government. Had it not been for
this sudden change in the German leadership, Hitler might
eventually have been compelled to seek a status as a normal
political leader and try his hand at the parliamentarian game.
132 MEIN KAMPF
moderate success in any attempted salvation in the elev-
enth hour.
fWith this the movement was approached by a question
that was important in principle.
In order to destroy parliament, was one to go into it and
' to hollow it out from within/ as one was accustomed to ex-
press it, or was one to lead this fight from the outside by
attacking the institution as such?
One went in and came out beaten.
Of course, one had to go in.
To carry out the fight against such an institution from the
outside means to arm oneself with unshakable courage, and
also to be ready for unheard-of sacrifices. This means to
seize the bull by the horns and to receive many blows, to
fall to the ground sometimes, and perhaps to rise again with
broken bones, and only after the hardest struggle will vic-
tory turn to the courageous aggressor. Only the greatness
of the sacrifices will win new fighters for the cause, till per-
severance finally receives the reward of success.
But for this one needs the children from the great masses
of the nation.
They alone are determined and tough enough to fight this
struggle to the bloody end.
But the Pan-German movement did not possess these
broad masses; thus it had no other choice but to go into
parliament.
It would be wrong to believe that this decision had been
the result of long mental agonies or even reflections; no,
one did not think of anything else. The participation in
this nonsense was only the sediment of general and confused
conceptions of the importance and the effect of participa-
tion in an institution which had already been recognized as
being fundamentally wrong. In general, one probably
hoped for relief in the work of the enlightenment of the
great masses, because now one had an opportunity to speak
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 133
before the 'forum of the entire nation/ Further, it seemed
evident that it was more successful to attack the evil at the
root than from the outside. By protection through im-
munity one believed the security of the individual protago-
nist would be strengthened, so that the force of the attack
could only be increased thereby.
But in reality things came about quite differently. <•
The forum before which the Pan-German deputies spoke
had not become greater but rather smaller; for everybody
speaks only before the audience that is able to hear him, or
that receives a description of what has been said through
the reports of the press.
But the greatest direct audience is not represented by the
hall of parliament, but by the great public meeting.
For there, there will be thousands of people who have
only come to hear what the speaker has to say, whereas in
the session hall of the House of Deputies there are only a
few hundred, whose chief reason for coming is only to re-
ceive their remuneration and not to let themselves be en-
lightened by the wisdom of the one or the other of the ' peo-
ple's representative.'
But above all :
It is always the same public which will never add to its
knowledge, not only because it lacks the brains for this, but
also the necessary, though modest, will power.
Never will one of these deputies willingly do better [$ic]
truth the honor of entering its service.
No, not one of them will do that, except he hopes to save
or to regain his mandate for a further session. For as soon
as it is in the air that the existing party will not do very
well in a coming election, only then will these ornaments of
manliness set out to see how they can gain the other, prob-
ably winning party or direction, whereby this change of po-
sition takes place under a cloudburst of moral motivations.
Therefore, whenever an existing party seems to be out of
134 MEIN KAMPF
the people's favor to the extent that an annihilating defeat
is threatened, a great migration begins: the parliamentary
rats leave the party ship.
This has nothing to do with greater knowledge or will
power, but with that clairvoyant ability which warns such
a parliamentary bedbug just in time, so that it can let itself
drop on another warm party bed.
To speak before such a 4 forum* means really to cast
pearls before certain well-known animals. This is really not
worth while. The result cannot be other than naught.
This, then, was actually the case.
The Pan-German deputies could talk on till their throats
were hoarse; the effect was naught.
The press, however, passed over it in silence or mutilated
the speeches in a way that every connection, even often
their meaning, was lost or distorted, so that public opinion
was given only a very poor picture of the intentions of the
new movement. It was of no importance whatsoever what
the individual gentlemen now said; the importance rested
in what one read of them. But this was only an abstract of
their speeches, which, in its tattered condition, was nothing
but nonsense — and so it was intended. But the only forum
before which they actually spoke consisted of barely five
hundred parliamentarians, and that says enough.
But the worst was the following:
The Pan-German movement could hope for success only
if it realized from the very first day that the question in-
volved was not that of a new party but that of a new view of
life. The latter alone was able to summon the internal
strength to fight out this gigantic struggle. But for this
only the best and the most courageous characters are suited
to act as leaders.
If the fight for a new view of life is not led by heroes will-
ing to sacrifice themselves, then no more will death-defying
fighters be found. He who in such a case fights for his
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 135
own existence cannot have much consideration left for the
community.
fBut in order to preserve this assumption, it is necessary
for everybody to know that the new movement has nothing
to offer to the present except the honor and the fame of
posterity. The more easily-to-be-won positions such a
movement has to offer, the greater will be the onrush of in-
ferior stuff, till finally these political jobbers overcrowd a
successful political party in such numbers that the honest
fighter of an earlier time no longer recognizes the old move-
ment, so that the newcomers themselves decidedly reject
him as an unwelcome ' intruder/
With this the ' mission ' of such a movement is finished.
From the moment the Pan-German movement sold itself
to parliament, it gained 'parliamentarians' instead of lead-
ers and fighters.
Thus it deteriorated to the level of ordinary political
parties of the day and lost the force to oppose a catastrophic
destiny with the defiance of martyrdom. Instead. of fight-
ing, it now learned to 'speak' and to 'negotiate.' The new
parliamentarian considered it, within a short time, a nicer
duty, because it involved less risk, to fight for the new view
of life with the ' intellectual ' weapons of parliamentary elo-
quence than to throw himself into a fight, and possibly
risking his own life, whose end was uncertain and in any
case did not promise any gain.
But as now the party was in parliament, the followers out-
side began to hope and to wait for miracles, which, of course,
never happened and never could happen. Therefore, they
became impatient within a short time; for also what one
heard of one's own deputies in no way corresponded with
the expectations of the voters. This was only too natural,
as the hostile press took heed not to report a true-to-life
picture of the Pan-German representative to the people.
But the more the new deputies began to find palatable
136 MEIN KAMPF
the rather mild form of 'revolutionary* fight in parliament
and the diet, the less were they ready to return to the more
dangerous work of enlightening the nation's great masses.
Therefore, the mass meeting, being direct and personal,
and which was the only way of exercising a really effective
influence and which, therefore, alone could enable the win-
ning of great parts of the nation, was pushed more and more
into the background.
Once the beer table of the meeting hall was exchanged for
the platform of parliament, so that from this exalted forum
speeches could be poured into the heads of the so-called
'elected representatives' instead of into the people, the
Pan-German movement ceased to be a people's movement
and gradually sank into a club for academic discussion, to
be taken more or less seriously.
Now also the bad impression that the press had rendered
was in no way repaired by the personal assembly activity of
the various gentlemen, so that finally the word 4 Pan-Ger-
man' had a very bad sound in the ears of the great public.
For let it be said to all knights of the pen and to all the
political dandies, especially of today : the greatest changes in
this world have never yet been brought about by a goose-
quill!
No, the pen has always been reserved to motivate these
changes theoretically.
But the power which set the greatest historical avalanches
of political and religious nature sliding was, from the begin-
ning of time, the magic force of the spoken word alone.
The great masses of a nation will always and only suc-
cumb to the force of the spoken word. But all great move-
ments are movements of the people, are volcanic eruptions
of human passions and spiritual sensations, stirred either by
the cruel Goddess of Misery or by the torch of the word
thrown into the masses, and are not the lemonade-like out-
pourings of aestheticizing literati and drawing-room heroes.
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 137
Only a storm of burning passion can turn people's des-
tinies, but only he who harbors passion in himself can arouse
passion.
Passion alone will give to him, who is chosen by her, the
words that, like beats of a hammer, are able to open the
doors to the heart of a people.
He to whom passion is denied and whose mouth remains
closed is not chosen by Heaven as the prophet of its will.
Therefore, may every writer remain by his inkwell in
order to work 'theoretically' if his brains and ability are
sufficient for this ; such writers are neither born nor chosen
to become leaders.
Every movement with great aims has anxiously to watch
that it may not lose connection with the great masses.
It has to examine every question primarily from this
point of view and to make decisions in this direction.
Further, it has to avoid everything that could diminish
or even weaken its ability to influence the masses; perhaps
not for 'demagogic* reasons, no, but because of the simple
realization that without the enormous power of the masses
of a people no great idea, no matter how sublime and lofty
it may appear, is realizable.
Hard reality alone conditions the way that leads to
every goal; shunning disagreeable ways means, in this
world, only too often to renounce the goal; one may wish
this or not.
As soon as the Pan-German movement, because of its
parliamentary position, began to place the weight of its ac-
tivity upon parliament instead of upon the people, it lost
its future and won cheap successes of the moment.
It chose the easier fight, and therewith it was no longer
worthy of the ultimate victory.
Already in Vienna I had thought most thoroughly about
just this question, and in its non-recognition I saw one of
the causes for the decline of the movement whose mission.
138 MEIN KAMPF
in my eyes, was to take the leadership of Germanity into
its hands.
The first two mistakes which made the Pan-German
movement fail were related to each other. The lack of
knowledge of the internal driving forces of great changes
led to an insufficient evaluation of the importance of the
great masses of the people ; from this resulted the scanty in-
terest in the social question, the deficient and insufficient
courting of the soul of the nation's lower classes, but also
the attitude towards parliament that favored this condi-
tion.
If one had recognized the tremendous power which at all
times is due to the masses as the bearer of revolutionary
resistance, one would certainly have applied a different
policy as regards social and propagandistic directions. Then
the center of weight of this movement would not have been
removed to the parliament, but stressed in the workshops
and streets.
But the third mistake also bears the ultimate germ in the
non-recognition of the value of the masses, which, like a
fly-wheel, gives impetus and uniform continuance to the
force of the attack, once they have been set in motion in one
certain direction by superior minds. <•
The serious struggle that the Pan-German movement
had to fight out with the Catholic Church can be explained
only by the insufficient understanding which one had for
the spiritual disposition of the people.
The new party's violent attacks against Rome were
caused by the following:
As soon as the House of Habsburg had reached the final
determination to transform Austria into a Slavic State, it
took up every means that seemed suitable in this direction.
Religious institutions also were dishonestly taken into the
service of the neW 'idea of State* by the most unscrupulous
of all dynasties.
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 139
The use of Czech pastorates and their spiritual pastors
was only one of the many means to reach the goal of Aus-
tria's general Slavization.
The procedure involved was about the following:
In purely German parishes Czech pastors were appointed
who slowly but steadily began to put the interests of the
Czech nation above those of the Church, thus becoming
germ cells of the process of de-Germanization.
Unfortunately, the German clergy almost failed com-
pletely in the face of such a procedure. Not only that the
clergy themselves were entirely unfit for a similar struggle
from the German point of view ; they were not able to meet
the attacks of the other with the necessary resistance. Thus,
by way of religious abuse on the one hand, the German na-
tion was not well enough defended on the other hand, and
was being pushed back slowly but incessantly.
If this happened in small matters, unfortunately the sit-
uation in general was not very different.
Here, too, the anti-German attempts of the Habsburgs
did not meet the necessary resistance, especially on the
part of the higher clergy, while the representation of the
German interests was pushed completely into the back-
ground.
The general impression could but be that this was a bru-
tal infringement on German rights by the Catholic clergy
as such.
With this, however, the Church did not seem to feel with
the German people, but seemed unjustly to take sides with
its enemies. The root of the evil was, especially in Schoener-
er's opinion, that the head of the Catholic Church was not
in Germany, a fact which accounted for the hostility to-
wards the concerns of our nationality.
The so-called cultural problems were almost completely
pushed into the background, as was the case with nearly
everything in Austria at that time Decisive for the atti-
140 MEIN KAMPF
tude of the Pan-German movement towards the Catholic
Church was far less the Church's attitude against, perhaps,
science, etc., than, what is more, its insufficient representa-
tion of German rights, and, on the other hand, its continued
advancement of especially Slavic arrogance and greed.
Now, George Schoenerer was not the man to do things by
halves. He took up the fight against the Church with the
conviction that only thus could the German people perhaps
still be saved. The ' Los-von-Rom9 movement seemed the
most powerful, but also the most difficult, procedure of at-
tack destined to smash the fortress of the enemy. If it was
successful, then the unfortunate schism of the Church in
Germany was overcome, and the internal strength of the
Reich and the German nation could not fail to gain enor-
mously by such a victory.
But neither the assumption nor the conclusion of this
fight was correct.
In all questions concerning the German nationality, the
national resistance of the Catholic clergy of German na-
tionality was undoubtedly weaker than that of their non-
German brethren, especially the Czechs.
Also, only an ignoramus could fail to see that the Ger-
man clergy never so much as thought of an active represen-
tation of German interests.
Also, everyone who was not blind had to admit that this
was due first of all to a circumstance from which we Ger-
mans all have to suffer severely; it is the objectivity of our
attitude towards our nationality as well as towards anything
else.
Just as the Czech clergyman has an attitude that is sub-
jective towards his people and only objective towards the
Church, thus the German clergyman was subjective to-
wards the Church and objective towards the nation. It
was a fact which we may unfortunately observe in thou-
sands of other cases.
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 141
This is in no way a special hereditary feature of Cathol-
icism, but in our country it eats into almost any, especially
governmental or idealistic institutions.
Compare the attitude which our officials show towards
the attempts of a national rebirth with that which in such
a case the officials of another nation would show. Or does
one believe that the officers' corps of the rest of the world
would in a similar way place the concerns of their nation in
the background with the phrase of 'State authority/ as has
been our custom for these past five years, a fact that is even
looked upon as especially meritorious? Do not both reli-
gions today, for instance, take an attitude towards the
Jewish question that neither answers the concerns of the
nation nor the real needs of religion? Compare the attitude
of a Jewish rabbi towards all questions, even of only minor
importance for Judaism as a race, with that of the far
greater part of our clergy, but, if you please, of both reli-
gions!
We find this symptom whenever the representation of an
abstract idea is involved.
'State authority/ 'democracy/ 'pacifism/ 'international
solidarity/ etc., are all conceptions which in our country
nearly always turn into stiff, purely doctrinary notions, so
that every judgment of the general national necessities of
life originates exclusively from their point of view.
This unfortunate way of looking at all concerns from the
angle of a previously accepted idea kills all ability to think
subjectively of a thing that is objectively contradictory to
one's own doctrine, and eventually it leads to a complete
reversal of means and end. Then one will turn against
every attempt at a national rising if this could take place
only after first doing away with an inefficient, destructive
regime, as this would mean an offense against 'State au-
thority/ but since 'State authority' is not a means to an
end, but in the eyes of such an 'objective' fanatic it repre-
142 MEIN KAMPF
sents the end itself, that is sufficient to fill out his entire
miserable life. Then one will indignantly resist an at-
tempted dictatorship, even if it were Frederick the Great,
and if the State artists of a parliamentary majority were
only inefficient dwarfs or even inferior scoundrels, because
to such a stickler for principles the law of democracy seems
more sacred than the welfare of a nation. The one, there-
fore, will protect the worst tyranny that ruins a people, as
for the moment it represents the 'State authority/ while
the other rejects even the most blessed government, as
long as it does not represent his idea of 'democracy.'
In exactly the same way our German pacifist will pass
over in silence the most bloody rape of the nation, it may
come from even the fiercest military powers, if a change of
At no time was German pacifism more highly developed than
pacifism was in any other country subscribing to the principles
of civilization. But it is true that the Social Democrats had
taught international worker solidarity more ardently than
had some other Socialist groups, though they too — barring
a few leaders — succumbed to the enthusiasm of 1914. Later
on, when doubts concerning the War began to arise, some of the
older feeling returned and the dissident leaders were able to
muster considerable strength. Christian pacifism, on the other
hand, was after the War given a powerful impetus by the Peace
Encyclicals of the Pope, which made an impression on Catho-
lics and Protestants alike. The coming of Hitler to power
naturally spelled the end of such efforts. All members of pacifist
organizations — which did not question the legitimacy of
national defense in a just war — were penalized. A number
of professors were dismissed from the universities, and State
employees were thrown out of office whenever the label of
pacifist could be affixed to them. The most sensational instance
was the trial of Professor Friedrich Dessauer in 1933, when the
Center Party statesman was subjected to imprisonment and loss
of property for alleged pacifist activity.
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 143
this lot could be brought about only by resistance, that
means force, for this would be contrary to the spirit of his
peace league. But the international German socialist may
be robbed conjointly by the other world; he accepts it with
fraternal affection and does not think oij^m^a^pr even
mere protest, because he is — a Ger
This may be deplorable, but to
means first to understand it.
The same is the case with the]
concerns by a part of the clergy. |
This is neither wicked nor ma
caused by orders from, let us sa)
national determination in which
a defective education for GermanisnT
well as a complete submission to the i
an idol.
Education for democracy, for international socialism,
for pacifism, etc., is such a stiff and exclusive one and so
purely subjective from these various points of view, that
therefore the whole picture of the remaining part of the
world is also influenced by this principal conception, while
from childhood on the attitude towards the German nation
has been merely objective. Thus the pacifist, by giving him-
self subjectively and entirely to his idea, in face of any
threat to his people no matter how unjust and serious it
may be (as long as he is a German), will always look first for
the objective right and he never will join the ranks and fight
with his flock out of pure instinct for self-preservation.
How far this is true for the various denominations as
well, the following shows:
Protestantism represents the concerns of the German na-
This point was to prove of the greatest importance. Lutheran
teaching on the subject of baptism -- which is regarded as the
greatest sacrament — is that through baptism equality of
144 MEIN KAMPF
tion in a better way, so far as this is already rooted in its
birth and later tradition; but it breaks down in the moment
when the defense of these national interests take place in a
field which is not included in the general line of its ideal
world and traditional development, or which perhaps is
rejected for some reason or other.
Thus Protestantism will always interest itself in the pro-
motion of all things Gertnan as such, whenever it is a mat-
ter of inner purity or increasing national sentiment, the de-
fense of German^ life, the German language and German
liberty, as all this is also rooted firmly in Protestantism;
status before God and in the Church is conferred on men.
Difference of race and endowment may and do subsist, but
they are not of essential importance. Moreover, the sacred
ministry is open to all who have been baptized and are called.
Therewith Lutheranism denies the priority of race. When
Hitler came to power, he immediately tried to place the
governance of the Lutheran Church in the hands of men who
were willing to alter the traditional teaching. A large group of
'German Christians' who subscribed to Hitler's views were
recruited, and their representative — Pastor Ludwig M tiller —
was named Archbishop at the command of the government.
The majority of German theologians refused, however, to
accept so drastic a tampering with their creed. Gradually they
formed the Confessional Synod, and this has until now —
despite all pressure and suffering — clung resolutely to the
orthodox point of view. The best-known spokesman for this
point of view is Pastor Martin Niemoller, who was imprisoned
by command of Hitler and is still held in virtually solitary
confinement; but there are hundreds of clergymen who have
learned to know the meaning of opposition. More than twelve
hundred of their number have gone to prison; some are dead.
The crisis through which Lutherism is passing is unquestion-
ably the gravest in its history. Cf. Der Kampfder cvangelischen
Kircke in Deutschland. by Arthur Frey (Zollikon, 1937).
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 145
but it will immediately and sharply fight every attempt at
saving the nation from the grip of its most deadly enemy,
as its attitude towards Judaism is fixed more or less by
dogma. But this involves a question without the solution
of which all attempts at a German renaissance or a national
revival are and will remain absurd and impossible,
f During my time at Vienna I had enough leisure and op-
portunity to examine this question also without prejudice,
and in daily contacts I was able to determine the direction
of this opinion in a thousand ways.
In this focus of the various nationalities, it was shown
most clearly that only the German pacifist tries to look ob-
jectively at the concerns of his own nation, but the Jew, for
instance, will never do the same with those of the Jewish
people; that only the German socialist is ' international'
in a sense that forbids him to ask for justice for his people
other than by whining and moaning before his international
comrades, but never the Czech or the Pole, etc. ; in short, I
recognized even then that the misfortune is to be sought
only partly in those doctrines, but, for the other part, in
our entirely insufficient education for our own nationality
as a whole, and, conditioned by this, in a weakened devo-
tion to the latter.
This eliminated the first purely theoretical motivation of
the fight of the Pan-German movement against Cathol-
icism in itself.
One should educate the German people, from childhood
These words seem to define Hitler's point of view at the time
this book was written, and doubtless reflects the situation in
which he found himself in the Bavaria of 1923. The statements
here made aroused the ire of General Ludendorff, already then
a violent opponent of Rome and the Jesuits, and were dealt
with in magazine articles in which the General accused Hitler
of having 'sold out' to Rome. The Fuhrer was at the time un*
146 MEIN KAMPF
on, to the exclusive acknowledgment of the right of their
own nationality, and one should not poison the children's
hearts with the curse of our 'objectivity/ also in matters of
the preservation of the ego, so that after a short time it will
be seen (provided there exists also a radical national gov-
ernment) that, as in Ireland, Poland, or France, in Germany
also a Catholic will always be a German.
The most convincing proof for this was offered at a time
when for the last time our people were summoned, for the
protection of its existence, before the tribunal of History
for its struggle for life or death.
As long as the leadership from above did not fail, the peo-
ple fulfilled their duty in the most overwhelming manner.
Whether they were Protestant or Catholic clergy, they both
had an immensely large share in preserving for so long a
time our force of resistance not only at the front but even
certain of what the future might bring, and is known to have
interviewed leaders of the Bavarian People's Party (Catholic)
concerning the terms under which he might be admitted to that
organization. Heiden puts the matter somewhat differently,
suggesting that Hitler had merely been trying to get permission
to reorganize the Nazi Party. In addition one of the best
friends the Nazis had in the Bavarian regular army was General
Franz von Epp, a Catholic who would have frowned on any-
thing smacking of religious warfare.
Perhaps — it is not possible as yet to substantiate the state-
ment in full — the change in Hitler's personal attitude is
attributable primarily to the conversion of Cardinal Faulhaber,
Archbishop of Munich, from monarchist restorationism to
democracy and pacifism. The Cardinal proclaimed this new
attitude in a sensational open letter which implied criticism
of the Nazis. In addition Hitler had come more under the
influence of Alfred Rosenberg, whose ideas on racialism and
religion have since become standard Party fare. At any
rate, the Catholic Church took up in earnest the fight against
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 147
more so at home. During these years, especially during the
first flare-up, there existed for both camps only one single
and sacred German Reich, and everyone turned to his own
heaven for its existence and future.
There is one question which the Pan-German movement
in Austria ought to have asked itself: Is the preservation of
the German nation in Austria possible under a Catholic
faith? If it is possible, then the political party had no right
to occupy itself with religious or even denominational af-
fairs; if not, however, then a religious reformation had to
set in, and not a political party.
He who believes he may arrive at a religious reformation
by the roundabout way of a political organization only
shows that he really has not the slightest idea of the way in
which religious conceptions or even dogmas originate and
their effect upon the Church.
the Nazi creed after the triumphant elections of 1930. A
number of pastoral letters denounced the errors contained in
the Party program and in the books of important leaders; and
late in 1930 the Ordinary of the diocese of Mayence refused to
grant Catholic burial to a Nazi. After Hitler came to powei ,
all this was changed. The Bishops revised their attitude;
a Concordat was signed with the Holy See. Even more re-
cently some Catholic leaders have professed to believe that
a modus vivendi with Hitler might be reached.
We possess authentic records of Chancellor Hitler's private
views of the religious situation. One of these may be cited in
part: 'Hitler said concerning Catholic opposition, especially in
Bavaria, that its fomentors were wasting their time. They
might as well stop pipe-dreaming. He would not follow the
example of Bismarck. He was a Catholic. Providence had
arranged that. Bismarck had failed because he had been
a Protestant — and Protestants have no conception of what the
Catholic Church is. The important thing was to sense what
148 MEIN KAMPF
Here one really cannot serve two masters. In this, I con-
sider the foundation or the destruction of a religion essen-
tially more important than the foundation or destruction
of a State, let alone a party.
But one must not say that this was only the warding-
off of attacks from the other side!
It is certain that at all times unscrupulous people did not
shrink from making religion a tool of their political business
affairs (for this is almost exclusively and nearly always the
main object of such fellows) ; and it is equally certain that it
would be wrong to hold religion or a denomination responsi-
ble for a number of scoundrels who abuse it just as surely as
they would very probably abuse anything else placed into
the service of their base instincts.
Nothing would suit such a parliamentary good-for-
people felt in religious matters and what endeared the Church
to them. If the clerical caste would not disappear voluntarily,
he would direct propaganda against the Church until people
would be unable to hide their disgust when the word ' Church '
was mentioned. Why, it was necessary only to make Church
history popular. He would have films made. Looking at them
the German people would see how the clergy had exploited
them, lived off them. How they had sucked the money out of
the country. How they had worked hand in glove with the
Jews, how they had practiced immoral vice, how they had
spread lies. These films would be so interesting that everybody
would itch to see them. He would make the clergy ridiculous.
He would expose all the tangled mass of corruption, selfishness
and deceit of which they had been guilty. Let the bourgeoisie
tear its hair. He would have the youth and the people on his
side. He would guarantee that if he set his mind to it, he could
destroy the Church in a few years. The whole institution
was just a hollow shell. One good kick, and it would tumble
together in a heap.'
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 149
nothing and sluggard better than if he were offered an op-
portunity, at least later, of having some justification for
his political wirepulling.
For, as soon as religion or a denomination is made re-
sponsible for his personal wickedness and is attacked for
this reason, such a mendacious fellow will clamor aloud and
call the world to witness how justified his actions were, and
that the salvation of religion and church is due to him and
to his eloquence alone. His fellow citizens, as stupid as they
are forgetful, will not recognize the real orginator of the en-
tire dispute, merely because of the great noise he makes, or
they will no longer remember him, and so the scoundrel has
actually achieved his goal.
Such a sly fox knows only too well that this has nothing
whatsoever to do with religion, and he will therefore laugh
up his sleeve, while his honest and less skilled adversary
loses the game, so that some day, despairing of faith and
loyalty in mankind, he will withdraw from everything.
But also in another direction it would be unjust to make
religion as such or even the Church responsible for the mis-
takes of various individuals. One should compare the visi-
ble greatness of the organization which one has before one-
self with the average faultiness of men in general, and one
will have to admit that the proportion between good and
bad is here perhaps better than anywhere else. Even among
the priests there are certainly such to whom their sacred
office is only the instrument for the gratification of their
political ambition, and who, in the political fight, forget in
a more than deplorable manner that they should be the
guardians of a higher truth and not the promoters of lies
and calumnies — but such an unworthy individual is out-
weighed, on the other hand, by a thousand and more honest
pastors, most faithfully devoted to their mission, who stand
out like little islands in a communal swamp in our menda-
cious and demoralized time.
150 MEIN KAMPF
However little I condemn the Church as such, or may, if
perhaps a demoralized villain in a priest's frock offends
morality in an unclean fashion, just as little may I condemn
another among the many who befouls and betrays his na-
tionality in times when this is almost a daily practice any-
how. Especially today one should not forget that for one
such an Ephialtes there are thousands who with bleeding
hearts sympathize with the misfortune of their people and
who, just like the best of our nation, long for the hour when
at last Heaven will smile on us again.
But to him who now answers that the problems involved
are not everyday trifles but questions of essential truth or
dogmatic content, one can only give the necessary reply by
another question :
If you believe yourself to be chosen by Destiny to an-
nounce the truth, then do so; but then have the courage to
do so not by way of a political party — for this is also wire-
pulling— but instead of the present 'worse* place your
'better' of tomorrow!
But if you lack the courage to do so, or if you are uncer-
tain about your 'better,' then keep your hands off; in any
case do not try to do by roundabout sneaking through a
political movement what you would not dare to do with
your visor open. «<•
Political parties have nothing to do with religious prob-
lems, as long as these are not hostile to the nation and do not
undermine the ethics and morality of their own race; just
as religion is not to be combined with the absurdity of politi-
cal parties.
Whenever ecclesiastical dignitaries make use of religious
institutions or doctrines in order to harm their nationality,
one should not follow them and fight them with the same
weapons.
To the political leader the religious doctrines and institutions
of his people should always be inviolable, or else he ought not to
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 151
be a politician but should become a reformer, provided he is
made of the right stuff I
Any other attitude would lead to a catastrophe, especially
in Germany.
While studying the Pan-German movement and its fight
against Rome, at that time and especially in the course of
the following years, I came to the following conclusion:
The party of that time, through its limited understanding
of the importance of social problems, lost the masses of the
people that were really fit to fight; joining parliament de-
prived it of its enormous impetus and burdened it with all
the weaknesses of that institution ; it made itself impossible
in numerous small and medium circles through its fight
against the Catholic Church, thus robbing itself of innumer-
able of the best elements which the nation can call its
own.
The practical result of the Austrian Kulturkampf was
equal to nil.
t However, one succeeded in tearing away from the Church
almost one hundred thousand members, but she did not suf-
fer any particular loss because of this. She really did not
have to shed any tears for the lost 'lambs'; for the Church
lost only what for a long time had not fully belonged to her
internally. This was the difference between the new refor-
mation and the old one : that once many of the best of the
Church turned away from it because of their inner religious
conviction, while now only those went who were not only
lukewarm, but for 'considerations' of a political nature.
But even from the political point of view the result was
just as ridiculous and yet again saddening.
Once more a political movement, promising success and
salvation to the German nation, had perished, because it
had not been led with the necessary ruthless sobriety, but
lost itself in directions that were bound to lead to disunion.
For one thing is certainly true:
152 MEIN KAMPF
The Pan-German movement would probably never have
made this mistake if it had not possessed too little under-
standing for the psyche of the great masses. If its leaders
had known that, in order to achieve any success, one must
not present, for purely psychological reasons, two enemies
to the masses, because this would lead to a complete split-up
of the fighting strength, then for this reason alone the direc-
tion of the blows of the Pan-German movement would
have been aimed against one adversary alone. Nothing is
more dangerous for a political party than to be led by those
jacks-of-all-trades who want to do everything without ever
attaining the least thing.
No matter how much one had to criticize an individual
denomination, the political party must not for a moment lose
sight of the fact that, according to all previous experience
of history, a purely political party, in a similar situation,
has never succeeded in bringing about a religious refor-
mation. But one does not study history in order to for-
get its doctrines when they are to be applied in practice, or
to believe that things are now different — that is, that the
eternal truth of history is now no longer applicable; but
from history one learns just the practical application for the
present. But he who is not able to do this must not imagine
that he is a political 'leader* ; he is in reality a shallow, and
also frequently a very vainglorious, simpleton, and no
amount of good-will excuses his practical inability.
As a whole, and at all times, the efficiency of the trulv
national leader consists primarily in preventing the division
of the attention of a people, and always in concentrating it
on a single enemy. The more uniformly the fighting will of
a people is put into action, the greater will be the magnetic
force of the movement and the more powerful the impetus
of the blow. It is part of the genius of a great leader to make
adversaries of different fields appear as always belonging to
one category only, because to weak and unstable characters
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 153
the knowledge that there are various enemies will lead only
too easily to incipient doubts as to their own cause.
As soon as the wavering masses find themselves con-
fronting too many enemies, objectivity at once steps in, and
the question is raised whether actually all the others are
wrong and their own nation or their own movement alone
is right.
Also with this comes the first paralysis of their own
strength. Therefore, a number of essentially different in-
ternal enemies must always be regarded as one in such a
way that in the opinion of the mass of one's own adherents
the war is being waged against one enemy alone. This
strengthens the belief in one's own cause and increases one's
bitterness against the attacker.
It cost the former Pan-German movement its success be-
cause it did not comprehend this.
Its goal was rightly viewed, its will was pure, but the
way it chose was wrong. It was like a mountain climber
who fixes the peak that he is to climb well and correctly
with his eyes and who sets out on his way with the greatest
determination and energy, but who, paying no attention to
the way, always fixing his eye on the goal, neither sees nor
examines the condition of the ascent — thus finally failing.
The situation seemed to be the reverse with its great
competitor, the Christian Socialist Party.
The way on which it set out was intelligently and rightly
chosen, but it lacked the clear knowledge of the goal. <•
In nearly all matters in which the Pan-German move-
ment failed, the attitude of the Christian Socialist Party
was correct and carefully planned.
It had the necessary understanding of the importance of
the masses and it secured at least part of them by apparent
stress on its social character from the very first day. By
aiming essentially at the winning of the small and lower
middle class and the craftsmen classes, it gained a body of
154 MEIN KAMPF
followers that was as faithful as it was enduring, ready for
sacrifice. It avoided all fights against a religious institu-
tion, thus securing the support of such a mighty organiza-
tion as the Church represents. Thus it had only one really
great chief adversary. It recognized the value of large-
scale propaganda and it was a virtuoso in influencing the
spiritual instincts of the great masses of its followers.
The fact that, nevertheless, it was unable to reach the
desired goal of Austria's salvation was due to two faults of
its way and to the obscurity of the goal itself.
The new movement's anti-Semitism was built up on
religious imagination instead of racial knowledge. The
reason for making this mistake was the same as that
which caused the second error as well.
If the Christian Socialist Party was to save Austria,
then in the opinion of its founders it was not to approach
the question from the racial principle, as otherwise and
after a short time the general dissolution of the State
would set in. But the situation in Vienna especially re-
quired, in the opinion of the party leaders, the greatest
possible elimination of all disrupting circumstances and in
its place a stress on all unifying points of view.
Vienna, at that time, was already so heavily interspersed
with Czech elements that only the greatest tolerance with
respect to all racial problems was able to keep them in a
party that was not anti-German at the start. If one wanted
to save Austria, one could not renounce them. So, one tried
to win the small Czech tradesmen, especially numerous in
Vienna, for the fight against the liberal Manchester move-
ment, and thereby believed that one had found a slogan
against Judaism on a religious basis, overshadowing all of
the racial differences of old Austria.
It is obvious that a fight on such a basis gave Jewry
but limited cause for worry.
If the worse came to the worst, a splash of baptismal
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 155
water would always save the business and Judaism at the
same time.
With so superficial a motivation one never arrived at a
serious and scientific treatment of the whole problem, and
therefore only too many people, who could not understand
this kind of anti-Semitism, were repelled altogether. The
attractive force of the idea was therefore almost exclusively
tied to intellectually limited circles, if one wanted to
arrive at a real knowledge, by means of a purely senti-
mental feeling. The intelligentsia, as a matter of principle,
turned aside. Thus the matter was given more and more
the appearance as though the question involved was only
the attempt at a new conversion of the Jews or even the
expression of a "certain competitive envy. But with this
the fight lost the character of an inner and higher consecra-
Traditional anti-Semitism had in Germany always been
based on confessional differences. Any other motivation was
forbidden by the Church ; and in all the pogroms of the Middle
Ages, Jews were able to escape the rigor of the persecution by
accepting baptism. Surprisingly few availed themselves of that
opportunity; and on the Christian side Saint Bernard had
pointed out that the worst possible way to attempt conversions
was to inflict torture and death on the recalcitrant. Therefore
racial anti-Semitism as an integral part of a program of political
action remains Hitler's 'Copernican discovery.1 For now there
is no escape for the victim — no escape even for his Jewish
grandmother, by reason of whom he is a pariah under the Nazi
laws.
It must be conceded that however numerous the sources
from which Hitler's anti-Semitism derives may be, his proposed
solution for the 'Jewish problem1 is original. Probably there
were few among the older Nazi leaders who accepted it. Goer-
ing, Strasser, Roehm and the rest envisaged certain Jews of
whom they wished to rid Germany. Jealousy of Jewish business
rivals or professional competitors ; popular views of Jewish meth-
156 MEIN KAMPF
tion, and thus it appeared to many, and not the worst, as
immoral and objectionable. The conviction was lacking
that this was a question of vital importance to the whole of
mankind and that on its solution the fate of all non-Jewish
people depended.
Through these half-measures the value of the Christian
Socialist Party's anti-Semitic attitude was destroyed.
It was a sham anti-Semitism that was worse than no
anti-Semitism at all; because one was thus lulled into
security; one thought that one had caught the enemy by
the ears, whereas in reality one was being led about by
one's own nose.
The Jew, however, after a short time had so accustomed
ods of investing capital; age-old, almost atavistic sentiment
handed down from the days when Jews lived in ghettos;
soldierly hatred of Jewish pacifists: — all these things played
their part, but there exists overwhelming evidence from the
years 1933 and 1934 to show that even inside the Party the
general view was that the anti- Jewish campaign would be kept
within certain limits. Only Hitler has refused to budge. It
was he who rode down all opposition and ordered the pogrom
of November 9. As originally planned, the outbreak was to
coincide with the opening of the 'Eternal Jew' exposition in
Berlin, it being assumed that the Government could claim that
the people' had been so 'impressed' by the material displayed
there that a 'spontaneous uprising* was unavoidable. The
murder of Ernst von Rath, a German diplomat in Paris, by
a young Jewish refugee, provided a far better excuse. More
than 70,000 Jews were arrested, and those among the victim?
who had money were ordered to leave the country within a
specified time. Many thousands more were ejected from their
homes, made to walk the streets all night, and virtually suffered
to starve. In Vienna and Innsbruck the spectacle was so fright-
ful that even hardened Nazis are known to have protested.
Yet from the point of view of ruthless politics such steps are
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 157
himself to this kind of anti-Semitism that he would cer-
tainly have missed its absence more than its presence
hindered him.
As one had to make heavy sacrifices to the State of
nationalities, one had to do so even more in the case of
the representation of the German nationality itself.
One could not be 'nationalistic' if one did not want to
lose the ground under one's feet, even in Vienna. By
gentle evasion of this question, one hoped to save the
Habsburg State, while in reality one drove it towards its
doom by this very attitude. But with this the movement
lost its enormous source of power which in the long run
alone is able to replenish a political party with its internal
force.
Only through this the Christian Socialist movement
became a party like all the others.
In those days I closely observed both movements, the
one out of the beat of my heart, the other by being carried
away with admiration for the rare man who even then
appeared to me to be the bitter symbol of the whole
German nationality in Austria.
When the impressive funeral procession of the dead
mayor left the Rathaus and turned towards the Ring-
strasse, I, too, was among the many hundreds of thousands
who watched the tragedy. My feelings told me with
undeniably clever. For in view of the world-wide economic
depression, the arrival of Jewish refugees in any number creates
for the country harboring them a variety of difficult problems.
First, giving them jobs will be resented by the unemployed; and
establishing them in business or a profession will add to the
pressure of competition. The total effect upon the national
economy may be negligible, but the psychological effect may,
owing to the fact that discussion of the refugee problem is
constantly in the foreground, be very considerable.
158 MEIN KAMPF
internal emotion that the work of this man too was bound
to be in vain because of the fate that would lead this State
to its inevitable doom. Had Doktor Karl Lueger lived in
Germany, he would have been placed in the ranks of the
great figures of our nation ; that he had labored in this impos-
sible State was the misfortune of his work as well as his own.
When he died, the little flames in the Balkans leaped up
more greedily from month to month, so that Fate graciously
spared him the sight of that which he still thought he would
have been able to prevent.
I, however, tried to find the causes of the ill success of
the one movement and the failure of the second, and I
came to the firm conclusion that, apart from the impossi-
bility of ever reaching a consolidation of the State in old
Austria, the mistakes of both parties were the following:
The Pan-German movement was right on the whole in
its fundamental opinion about a German rebirth, but it
was unlucky in the choice of its way. It was nationalistic,
but unfortunately not social enough to win the masses.
Its anti-Semitism was based on the correct realization of
the importance of the race problem and not on the im-
possibility of religious ideas. Its fight against a certain
denomination, however, was wrong both in fact and tactics.
The Christian Socialist movement had an unclear con-
ception as to the goal of a German renaissance, but it
showed sense and was lucky in seeking its way as a party.
It understood the social question's importance, but it was
wrong in its fight against Judaism and had no idea of the
power of the national idea.
tHad the Christian Socialist Party, in addition to its
clever knowledge of the great masses, also had the right
conception of the importance of the race problem as the
Pan-German movement had comprehended it, or if it had
finally become nationalistic, or if the Pan-German move-
ment had accepted, in addition to the correct realization of
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 159
the goal, of the Jewish question and the importance of the
national idea, also the practical cleverness of the Christian
Socialist Party, but especially the latter's attitude towards
socialism, then this would have even then created that
movement which in my opinion could have intervened suc-
cessfully in the fate of the German nation.
That this was not the case was due for the most part to
the nature of the Austrian State.
As I did not see this conviction of mine realized in any
other party, I could not make up my mind in the days that
followed to join or even to fight with one of the existing
organizations. Even then I thought that all the political
movements had failed and were incompetent, that a na-
tional renaissance of the German people on a larger and
not really superficial scale was impossible.
My inner aversion to the Habsburg State grew more
and more during that time.
The more I began to occupy myself especially with the
question of foreign politics, the more my opinion grew and
the firmer it took root that this State formation was bound
to become the misfortune of the German nationality.
Finally, I saw more and more clearly that the fate of the
German nation would not be decided from this place, but
in the Reich proper. This was not only true of all general
political questions, but no less for all manifestations of the
entire cultural life.
Here, too, the Austrian State also showed all symptoms
of debility or at least of its unimportance for the German
nation in the domain of purely cultural or artistic affairs.
This was true most of all in the field of architecture. The
new architecture could not be successful in Austria for the
reason that since the completion of the Ringstrasse the
commissions were unimportant, at least as far as Vienna
was concerned, as compared with the increasing plans of
Germany.
160 MEIN KAMPF
Thus I began more and more to lead a double life: reason
and reality forced me to go through a school in Austria
that was as bitter as it was blissful, but the heart dwelt
somewhere else.-^
At that time an oppressive feeling of dissatisfaction
seized me; the more I recognized the internal hollowness
of this State and the impossibility of saving it, the more I
felt with certainty that in all and everything it only repre-
sented the misfortune of the German people.
I was convinced that this State was bound to oppress
and to handicap every really great German, as, on the other
hand, it promoted everything non-German.
I detested the conglomerate of races that the realm's
capital manifested ; all this racial mixture of Czechs, Poles,
Hungarians, Ruthenians, Serbs, and Croats, etc., and
among them all, like the eternal fission-fungus [sic] of
mankind — Jews and more Jews.
To me the big city appeared as the personification of
incest.
The German language of my childhood was the dialect
that was spoken also in Lower Bavaria; I was neither able
to forget it nor to learn the Viennese jargon. The longer I
stayed in this city, the more my hatred increased against
the mixture of foreign nations that began to eat up this
site of old German culture.
The idea that this State could still be maintained even
then seemed ridiculous to me.
Austria was at that time like an old mosaic; the cement
which held the single little stones together had become old
and brittle; as long as the masterpiece is untouched, it can
still pretend to be existent, but as soon as it is given a
blow, it breaks into a thousand fragments. The question,
therefore, was only when the blow would come.
Since my heart had never beaten for an Austrian mon-
archy but only for a German Reich, I could only look upon
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN VIENNA 161
the hour of the ruin of this State as the beginning of the
salvation of the German nation.
For all these reasons the longing grew stronger to go
there where since my early youth I had been drawn by
secret wishes and secret love.
I hoped to make a name for myself in the future as an
architect, and thus, be it in a narrow or a wide frame that
Fate was to bestow upon me, to devote my honest services
to the nation.
But finally I wanted to share the happiness of being
allowed to work on that spot from which the most ardent
wish of my heart was bound to be fulfilled: the union of
my own beloved country with the common fatherland,
the German Reich.
There are many who even today will not be able to
understand the intensity of such a longing, but now I
appeal to those to whom Fate either has denied this hap-
piness or from whom it has again cruelly taken it; I appeal
to all those who, severed from the motherland, have to
fight for the holy treasure of their language, those who,
because of their faithful adherence to the fatherland, are
being persecuted and tortured and who now in painful
emotion long for the hour that will allow them to return
to the arms of the beloved mother; I appeal to all those
and I know they will understand me.
Only he who through his own experience knows what it
means to be a German without being allowed to belong to
the dear fatherland will be able to comprehend the deep
longing that burns at all times in the hearts of the children
who are separated from the motherland. This longing
tortures those it has seized and denies them contentedness
and happiness until the doors of the father's house open
and the common blood finds peace and quiet again in the
common Reich.
But Vienna was and remained for me the hardest, but
162 MEIN KAMPF
also the most thorough, school of my life. I had once
entered this city when still half a boy and I left it as a man
who had become quiet and serious. In that city I received
the basis of a view of life in general and a political way
of looking at things in particular which later on I had only
to supplement in single instances, but which never again
deserted me. But it is only today that I am able to ap-
preciate fully the real value of those years of learning.
This is the reason why I have dealt with this period more
fully, as it gave me the first object lessons in those very
questions which formed part of the fundamental principles
of the party which, rising from the smallest beginnings, is
in the course of hardly five years on the way to develop
into a great mass movement. I do not know what my
attitude towards Judaism, Social Democracy, or better
Marxism, social problems, etc., would be today if the
basic stock of personal opinions had not been formed at
so early a time under the pressure of fate and of my own
learning.
For, though the fatherland's misfortune may stimulate
thousands upon thousands of people to thinking about the
internal causes of this collapse, this can never lead to that
thoroughness and deeper insight which is opened to him
who only after years of struggle becomes master of his fate.
CHAPTER IV
MUNICH
IN THE spring of 1912 I came to Munich for good,
t The town itself was as familiar to me as if I had lived
inside its walls for years. The reason for this was that
my studies, step by step, directed me towards this metro-
polis of German art. One has not only not seen Germany
if one does not know Munich — no, above all else, one
does not know German art if one has not seen Munich.
At any rate, this period before the War was the happiest
and most satisfying time of my life. Although my income
was still very meager, I did not live in order to be able to
paint, but I painted in order to secure the possibility of
my existence, or rather in order in this way to permit my-
self further study. I harbored the conviction that, never-
theless and finally, I would reach the goal that I had set
before myself. And this alone made me bear all other little
troubles of my daily life easily and indifferently.
But to this was added the inner love that seized me,
almost from the first hour of my stay, for this town more
than any other place known to me.<- A German town!
What a difference as compared with Vienna! It made me
sick only to think back to this racial Babylon. What is
more, the dialect here was much closer to me, and especially
the contact with the Lower Bavarians reminded me of the
164 MEIN KAMPF
days of my youth. There must have been thousands of
things that were, that became, dear to me. But most of all
I was attracted by the amazing union of inherent strength
and delicate, artistic atmosphere, this unique line from the
Hofbrauhaus to the Odeon, from the Oktoberfest to the
Pinakothek, etc. That today I feel more attached to this
town than to any other place in the world is probably ex-
plained by the fact that it is inseparably connected with
the development of my own life, and will remain so; but
that I even then attained the happiness of a really inner
contentedness was attributable only to the charm that this
beautiful residence of the Wittelsbachs exercises on every
human being who is blessed not only with calculating rea-
son but also with appreciative feeling,
f Apart from my professional work, what attracted me
most was again the study of current political events, among
them especially those of foreign politics. I arrived at the
latter by way of the German coalition policy, which I had
regarded as both wrong and erroneous ever since my time
in Austria. However, when I was still in Vienna, the full
extent of this self-deception of the Reich had not yet be-
come fully clear to me. In those days I was inclined to
assume (or perhaps I only tried to tell myself this as an
excuse) that possibly Berlin already knew how weak and
unreliable the ally would be in reality, but that for more or
less mysterious reasons they were withholding this know-
ledge, in order to support the coalition politics which
Bismarck himself once had founded, for a sudden break
was not desirable for fear one might arouse the foreign
countries which were on the lookout, and alarm the phi-
listines at home.
However, contact with the people themselves especially
very soon made me realize to my great horror that this
belief was wrong. To my astonishment I ascertained that
~ven in well-informed circles everywhere one had not the
MUNICH 165
slightest idea of the internal structure of the Habsburg
monarchy. The people especially were ensnared with the
delusion that one could look upon the ally as a serious
power that in the hour of distress would certainly be up
to the mark. The masses still considered the monarchy
as a ' German ' State and believed that one could count on
this. The opinion was prevalent that its force might be
measured by millions, as perhaps in Germany itself, and
completely forgot that, in the first place, Austria had long
since ceased to be a German State-entity; that, in the
second place, the internal conditions of this realm were
constantly pressing towards dissolution.
I had known this State formation better than these so-
called official 'diplomats,' who, nearly blind as always,
were swaying towards disaster; because the sentiments of
the people were only and always the outflow of that which
was poured into public opinion from above. But up above
one worshiped this 'ally' like the golden calf. Perhaps one
hoped to replace the sincerity which was lacking by ami-
ability. In this one always accepted words instead of true
values.
It was already in Vienna that I was seized with fury
when I looked at the difference between the speeches of the
official statesmen and the contents of the Viennese press
that was so apparent from time to time. Nevertheless,
Vienna was still a German city, at least by appearance.
But how different things were when, leaving Vienna or
rather German- Austria behind, one came into the Slavic
provinces of the realm ! One only had to pick up the news-
papers published in Prague if one wanted to know how the
sublime jugglery of the Triple Alliance was judged there.
Nothing was left for this 'statesmanlike* masterpiece but
cruel taunts and sneers. With absolute peace reigning, and
the two emperors exchanging kisses of friendship, no secret
was made of the opinion that this alliance would collapse
166 MEIN KAMPF
the very day an attempt was made to lead it out of the
glamor of the Nibelungen ideal into practical reality.
How excited one got a few years later when, as the hour
finally had come in which the alliances were to prove
themselves, Italy jumped out of the Triple Alliance and let
its two allies go their own way, and she herself finally be-
came an enemy in the end! Only those who were not
stricken with diplomatic blindness could not understand
that people had even dared to believe for a single minute
in the possibility of such a miracle, namely, that Italy
would fight hand in hand with Austria. Even in Austria
things did not differ by a hair's breadth. <*•
In Austria, the only bearers of the idea of the alliance
were the Habsburgs and the Germans. The Habsburgs
out of calculation and compulsion, the Germans out of good
faith and political — stupidity. Out of good faith because
they thought that through the Triple Alliance they rendered
a good service to the German Reich, that they helped to
strengthen and to protect it: out of political stupidity,
however, because neither was the first opinion right, but,
on the contrary, they helped thus to shackle the Reich to
a State carcass that was bound to pull them both into an
abyss, but above all because through this alliance they
themselves fell more and more to de-Germanization. For
by the alliance with the Reich the Habsburgs were, and
unfortunately could be, sure against an interference from
this side; they were able to carry out more easily and with
less risk their internal policy of the slow removal of Ger-
manism. Not only that with the notorious 'objectivity'
one no longer had to fear any objection on the part of the
Reich's government, but by pointing at the alliance one
was able to silence the German-Austrian voices that might
be raised, from the German side, against Slavization in too
infamous a fashion.
Furthermore, what was the German in Austria to do if
MUNICH 167
the Germans in the Reich proper expressed their esteem
and confidence in the Habsburg regime? Was he to offer
resistance, so that in the entire German public opinion he
would be branded a traitor towards his own nationality?
He who for centuries had made the most unheard-of sacri-
fices for his nationality!
But what was the value of this alliance, once the German
nationality had been rooted out of the Habsburg monarchy?
Did not the value of the Triple Alliance for Germany
really depend on the preservation of the German superiority
in Austria? Or did one really believe that one could still
live in an alliance with a Slavic Habsburg realm?
The attitude of official German diplomacy, but also that
of the entire public opinion, towards the Austrian internal
problem of nationalities was no longer stupid, no, it was
absolutely insane. They trusted in an alliance, adjusted
the safety of a people of seventy million to it — and
watched the partner systematically and relentlessly destroy
the only foundation of this alliance from year to year. One
day a ' treaty ' with the Viennese diplomacy would remain,
but the allied assistance of a realm would be lost.
This had been the case with Italy from the very begin-
ning.
If one had studied history a little more clearly in Ger-
many, and if one had applied a little racial psychology, one
would not have believed for even one hour that the Quirinal
in Rome and the Hofburg in Vienna would ever stand side
by side in a common battle front. Italy would rather have
become a volcano before any government could have dared
to place even one single Italian on the battlefield of the so
fanatically hated Habsburg State, except as an enemy.
In Vienna I saw the passionate contempt and the bottom-
less hatred flare up more than once with which the Italian
was 'devoted1 to the Austrian State. The damage that the
House of Habsburg had done to Italian liberty and in-
168 MEIN KAMPF
dependence for centuries was too great to have been for-
gotten, even if the will to do so had been present. But it
was not at all present; neither among the people nor with
the Italian government. For Italy, therefore, there existed
only two possibilities for living together with Austria;
either alliance or war.
By choosing the first, one was able quietly to prepare for
the second.
The German policy of alliance was as absurd as it was
dangerous, especially since Austria's relation to Russia
was drifting more and more towards a bellicose settle-
ment.
It was a classical case in which the lack of any great and
correct line of thought was lacking.
Why, then, did one form an alliance at all? Certainly
only in order to be able to guard the future of the Reich
better than Germany, standing alone, would have been
able to do. But the future of the Reich was nothing but
the question of guarding the German people's possibility
of existence.
Therefore, the question could only be formulated thus:
Along what lines should the life of the German nation
develop in the near future, and how can one give this de-
velopment the necessary foundations and the required
security, within the frame of the general European rela-
tions of power?
When considering clearly the suppositions for German
statesmanship's activity in foreign politics, one necessarily
came to the following conclusion :
Germany has an annual increase in population of almost
900,000 souls. The difficulty of feeding this army of new
citizens would become greater with every year, and was
bound some day to end in a catastrophe, provided ways
and means were not found to avert this impending danger
of hunger-pauperization in time.
MUNICH 169
•jThere were four ways in which to avoid such a terrible
future:
(i) One could, following the French example, arti-
ficially restrict the increase of births and thus avoid over-
population.
Nature herself, in times of great distress or bad climatic
conditions, or where the yields of the soil are poor, steps
in by restricting the population of certain countries or
races; this, however, is a method that is as wise as it is
ruthless. She does not restrict the procreative faculty as
such, but the conservation of the propagated, by subjecting
them to such severe trials and deprivations that all less
strong and healthy are forced to return to the bosom of the
eternally Unknown. What she allows to endure beyond
the inclemency of existence is tested in a thousand ways,
hard and well suited to continue to procreate, so that the
This is one of the most important and frequently misunder-
stood passages in the book. Oddly enough it has been looked
upon as substantiating the 'healthy outlook' of the Third
Reich. It is true, of course, the chronic artificial limitation of
the population increase leads to highly deplorable social con-
sequences: the age structure of the nation may change, so that
the burden of age is abnormally heavy; normal economic
markets, dependent upon the birth of children and the supply-
ing of things children need, may dry up; and the inner structure
of the family may be adversely affected. Hitler's argument is,
however, derived from the racialistic materialists who, in the
balmy days before the World War, predicted that the German
population structure guaranteed success in the coming conflict.
Their statement that the survival of the fittest assures that the
begetters of new generations will be stronger and therefore more
martial is an un verifiable assumption; and the view that nature
is an infallible selector can easily be tested by the history of
savage races now under observation.
More significant, however, is the view that a people can hold
170 MEIN KAMPF
thoroughgoing selection may start again from the beginning.
Thus, by acting brutally against the individual and calling
him back to herself the moment he is not equal to weather
the storms of life, she conserves the strength of the race
and species itself and even spurs it towards the highest
achievements.
Her diminishing of the number is a strengthening of the
individual, thus finally a strengthening of the species.
But it is different if man decides to carry out the re-
striction of his numbers. He is not cut out of the same
wood as Nature, but is 'human.1 He knows better than
this cruel Queen of all Wisdom. He does not restrict the
continued existence of the individual, but rather propaga-
tion itself. This seems to him, who always sees only him-
self and never the race, more human and more justified
than the reverse. Unfortunately, the consequences are also
now the reverse:
While Nature, by giving free rein to propagation but
its place in the world only if it produces sufficient excess popula-
tion to assure victory in wars of conquest. There is hardly
another statement which has so profoundly disturbed com-
fortable visions of the terrestial future. For many years it has
underlain prophecies concerning the eventual war between
'races'; and it has now for some time been a factor in the re-
armament of Europe. All the dictatorships — Russia, Italy,
and Germany — refer to their reservoirs of man-power as
a warning to the weak and the small. In no other case, how-
ever, has the campaign to increase the population because
soldiers are needed been so dramatic as in Get many. The most
eloquent summary of results to date is Hitler's Reichstag
address of February, 1.938. He contended that there had been
a notable increase in the number of children born. But when
the figures advanced are set against the population curve, it
becomes exceedingly doubtful whether the birth-rate per
thousand married women is higher than it was previously.
MUNICH 171
subjecting the conservation of life to the severest trials,
and by choosing, from a surplus number of individuals,
those who are most worthy of living, thus preserving them
alone and now making them the bearers of the preservation
of the species, man restricts propagation, but on the other
hand he makes efforts to keep alive, at any price, every
human being once it is born. This correction of the divine
will seems to him to be as wise as it is human, and he is glad
that he has outwitted Nature once more in such a matter,
and that he even has given proof of her shortcomings.
But, of course, the Lord's dear little monkey does not at
all like to see or to hear that in reality, although the number
has certainly been restricted, the value of the individual
has been diminished.
Because, once propagation as such has been limited and
the number of births reduced, the natural struggle for
existence, that allows only the very strongest and healthiest
to survive, is replaced by the natural urge to 'save' at any
price also the weakest and even sickest, thus planting the
germ for a succession that is bound to become more and
more miserable the longer this derision of Nature and of
her will is continued.
But the result will be that one day existence in this
world will be denied such a people; because man may
certainly defy the eternal law of the will to continue, but
nevertheless revenge will come, sooner or later. A stronger
generation will drive out the weaklings, because in its ulti-
mate form the urge to live will again and again break the
ridiculous fetters of a so-called * humanity' of the indi-
vidual, so that its place will be taken by the 'humanity' of
Nature which destroys weakness in order to give its place
to strength.
He who, therefore, would secure the German people's
existence by way of a self-restriction of its increase robs it
of its future.
172 . MEIN KAMPF
(2) A second way would be the one that is being sug-
gested and eulogized more and more frequently today;
domestic colonization. This is a suggestion which is well
intended by as many as it is generally badly understood
by most, so that it causes the greatest imaginable damage.
The productivity of the soil can undoubtedly be in-
creased to a certain limit. But of course only to a certain
limit, and not continuously without end. Therefore, one
could be able to balance the increase of the German people
by the increased yield of our soil for some time, without
having to think immediately of hunger. But this is con-
fronted by the fact that, generally, the demands upon life
increase faster than the number of the population. Men's
demands with regard to food and clothes increase from
year to year, and even now they are no longer in proportion
When Hitler wrote these passages, they meant more than
they do now. Prior to the War, Germany had depended to a
considerable extent upon the exchange of manufactured goods
for foodstuffs. Afterward, instructed by the blockade and
handicapped by a lack of foreign exchange, she began to
encourage more intensive farming. The results were a steady
rise in crop production, aided by rigidly controlled markets.
As a matter of fact, the government was able to take grain
from Russia and resell it at a profit through Amsterdam. The
argument now arose as to whether the attempt to supply
sufficient grain ought not to be abandoned in favor of more
specialized farming — the production of poultry, eggs, milk.
This could be realized if the eastern section of the country were
broken up into small farms. Advocates of such resettlement
program, modest beginnings in carrying out which had been
made, insisted that it would also stop the overcrowding of cities
and place a cordon of dependable men along the Polish border.
In an official statement issued during March, 1930, the Nazis
also expressed their approval of the idea, and some of their
fading spokesmen promised to carry it out efficiently if they
MUNICH 173
ro the needs of our forefathers of about a hundred years
ago. It is, therefore, erroneous to believe that each increase
in production creates the presupposition for an increase of
the population: no; this is true only to a certain degree, for
at least part of the surplus yield of the soil is used to satisfy
the increased demands of men. But even with greatest
economy on the one hand, and with the utmost industry
on the other, here, also, though postponed for some time, a
limit will become apparent one day, prescribed by the soil
itself. Famine will return from time to time in periods of
poor harvests, etc. This will occur more and more often
with the increasing number of the population, and finally
will fail to appear only at such rare times when years of
plenty will have filled the granaries. But finally the time
comes when it will no longer be possible to satisfy the needs,
and famine will have become the eternal companion of
such a people. Now Nature has to help again and to choose
among those she has selected to live, or man will again help
himself; that means, he turns to artificial restriction with
all the grave consequences for race and species alluded
to.
Now, one may object that this future will threaten
entire mankind in this way or the other, and that thus the
individual peoples will not be able to escape this fate.
At first sight this is certainly correct. Yet here one has
to consider the following:
Certainly the time will come, in consequence of the
impossibility of adapting the fertility of the soil to the
number of the increasing population, when the whole of
came to power. But when the Republic attempted in 1931 to
carry out an inner colonization program in dead earnest, it
was dismissed by President von Hindenburg, now himself the
owner of an East Prussian estate. Since that time, no real ef-
fort has been made to tackle the problem.
174 MEIN KAMPF
mankind will be forced to stop the increase of the human
race and either let Nature decide again or to create the
necessary balance by self-help, if possible, but then in a
better way than that of today. But this would hit all na-
tions, whereas today only those races are stricken by such
distress which no longer have sufficient energy and strength
to secure for themselves the soil they need in this world.
For even today things are such that there is still soil on this
earth in enormous extent that is unused and only awaits
its cultivator. But it is also correct that Nature did not
reserve this soil in itself for a certain nation or race as re-
served territory for the future, but it is land and soil for
that people which has the energy to take it and the in-
dustry to cultivate it.
Nature does not know political frontiers. She first puts
the living beings on this globe and watches the free game
of energies. He who is strongest in courage and industry
receives, as her favorite child, the right to be the master
of existence.
If a people limits itself to domestic colonization, at a
time when other races cling to greater and greater surfaces
of the earth's soil, it will be forced to exercise self-restriction
even while other nations will continue to increase. For
some day this case will occur, and it will arrive the earlier
the smaller the living space is that a people has at its dis-
posal. As, unfortunately only too frequently, the best
nations, or, better still, the really unique cultured races,
the pillars of all human progress, in their pacifistic blindness
decide to renounce the acquisition of new soil in order to
content themselves with 'domestic* colonization, while
inferior nations know full well how to secure enormous
areas on this earth for themselves, this would lead to the
following result:
The culturally superior, but less ruthless, races would
have to limit, in consequence of their limited soil, their
MUNICH 175
increase even at a time when the culturally inferior, but
more brutal and more natural, people, in consequence of
their greater living areas, would be able to increase them-
selves without limit. In other words: the world will, there-
fore, some day come into the hands of a mankind that is
inferior in culture but superior in energy and activity.
For then there will be only two possibilities in the no
matter how distant future: either the world will be ruled
according to the ideas of our modern democracy, and then
the stress of every decision falls on the races which are
stronger in numbers, or the world will be dominated ac-
cording to the law of the natural order of energy, and then
the people of brute strength will be victorious, and again,
therefore, not the nations of self-restriction.
But one may well believe that this world will still be
subject to the fiercest fights for the existence of mankind.
In the end, only the urge for self-preservation will eternally
succeed. Under its pressure so-called 'humanity,' as the
expression of a mixture of stupidity, cowardice, and an
imaginary superior intelligence, will melt like snow under
the March sun. Mankind has grown strong in eternal
struggles and it will only perish through eternal peace.
For us Germans, however, the watchword 'domestic
colonization' is unfortunate for the reason that with us it
The 'Programme der N.S.D.A.P.' drawn up by Feder, stipu-
lated that the government would insist upon a 'land reform
consonant with our national needs, passage of a law to provide
for the confiscation, without payment, of ground needed for
communal purposes, abolition of interest on land, and preven-
tion of every kind of speculation in land.' This passage created
a good deal of bad blood, and on April 13, 1928, Hitler pub-
lished an official correction stating that since the Party believed
in private property, this clause could only mean that land ac-
quired in unlawful or immoral ways by Jewish speculators.
176 MEIN KAMPF
at once enhances, from the pacifistic outlook, the opinion
that we have found a means which allows us to 'work out*
an existence in twilight sleep. Once this doctrine will have
been taken seriously with us, it would mean the end of
every effort to secure in this world the place that is ours.
Once the average German gained the conviction that he
might secure his life and his future in such a way, every
attempt at an active and fruitful representation of the
German necessities of life would be eliminated. By such
an attitude on the part of the nation all really useful foreign
politics, and, with it, the future of the German people on
the whole, could be looked upon as dead and buried.
In realizing these consequences it is not by accident that
primarily the Jew always tries, and knows how, to implant
such deadly and dangerous thoughts in our people. He
knows his customers only too well not to know that they
gratefully fall victims to any Spanish treasure swindler
who tries to make them believe that a means has now been
found to play a trick on Nature, to make the hard and in-
exorable struggle for life superfluous, so that in its place, be
it by work or sometimes also by merely doing nothing,
just 'as the case may be/ one can rise to be master of the
planets.
It cannot be emphasized sharply enough that all German
domestic colonization has to serve, primarily, only to abolish
social abuses, but above all to withdraw the soil from general
speculation, and that it can never suffice to secure the future
of the nation without new land and soil.
If this is not done, then, after a short time, we will not
Expropriation of property owned by Jews or political enemies
has been fairly continuous, but reached new heights during
1938. In Austria Jewish cultural centers and Jewish homes
alike were taken away, without any legal formality other than
registration.
MUNICH 177
only have arrived at the limit of our soil, but also at the end
of our strength.
But finally, the following must also be established :
The restriction to a certain small surface of soil, as con-
ditioned by domestic colonization, and the same final result
which is achieved by limitation of propagation, lead to an
extremely unfavorable military political situation of the
nation involved.
The size of a people's living area includes an essential
factor for the determination of its outward security. The
greater the amount of room a people has at its disposal,
the greater is also its natural protection; because military
victories over nations crowded in small territories have
always been reached more quickly and more easily, espe-
cially more effectively and more completely, than in the
cases of States which are territorially greater in size. The
size of the State territory, therefore, gives a certain pro-
tection against frivolous attacks, as success may be gained
only after long and severe fighting and, therefore, the risk
of an impertinent surprise attack, except for quite unusual
reasons, will appear too great. In the greatness of the State
territory, therefore, lies a reason for the easier preservation
of a nation's liberty and independence, whereas, in the
reverse case, the smallness of such a formation simply in-
vites seizure.
The two first-mentioned possibilities for the creation
of a balance between the rising numbers of population and
the unchanging territory were indeed rejected by the so-
called national circles of the Reich. The reasons for this
attitude were of course different from those mentioned
above: towards birth control one primarily showed a nega-
tive attitude because of a certain moral feeling; domestic
colonization was indignantly rejected, as in it one scented
an attack against the great landowners, and with it the
beginning of a general fight against private property aa
178 MEIN KAMPF
such. The form in which the latter doctrine of salvation
especially was recommended justified this assumption.
In general, however, the defense against the great masses
was not very skillful and did not meet the nucleus of the
problem.
Thus, there remained but two ways to assure work and
bread to the increasing number of people.
(3) One could either acquire new soil in order annually to
send off the superfluous millions, and thus conserve the na-
tion further on on the basis of a self-sustainment, or one
could set about,
(4) through industry and trade, to produce for foreign
consumption and to live on the proceeds. <?
That means: either territorial policy, or colonial and
trade policy.
Both ways were examined, investigated, recommended,
and fought, till finally the second one was carried out.
The healthier of the two, of course, was the first.
The acquisition of new land and soil for the settling of the
superfluous population has no end of advantages, especially
when turning away from the present towards the future.
The very possibility of preserving a healthy peasant class
as the basis of the entire nation can never be sufficiently
valued. To a great extent many of our present sufferings
are only the consequences of the unhealthy proportion be-
tween town and country population. A solid stock of small
and medium peasants was at all times the best protection
against social ills as we have them today. This is also the
only solution that allows a nation to find its daily bread in
the inner circle of its domestic economy. Industry and
trade step back from their unwholesome leading positions
into the general frame of a national economy of balanced
demand and supply. Both are then no longer the basis of a
nation's subsistence, but a means to it. Inasmuch as now
they have a balance between their supply and demand in all
MUNICH 179
fields, they make the entire support of the nation inde-
pendent of foreign countries, thus helping to secure the lib-
erty of the State and the independence of the nation, espe-
cially in times of distress.
Obviously, such a territorial policy, howe^
its fulfillment in the Cameroons, for
exclusively only in Europe. One must i
accept the point of view that it certainly/
intention to give fifty times as much
earth to one nation as compared with ai!
political frontiers must not keep us awaj
of eternal right. If this earth really has :
to live in, then one should give us the spa?
for living.
One will certainly not like to do this. Then, however, the
Here Hitler, following Rosenberg and some other theorists,
professes disinterestedness in what has since become a familiar
Nazi demand. The two greatest apostles of colonial acquisi-
tion in Africa and elsewhere have been Dr. Heinrich Schnee
and Dr. Hjalmar Schacht. The first, who was a prominent Ger-
man colonial officer before the War, has led the fight to revise
the Treaty of Versailles to permit restoration to Germany of
her former colonies. But the influence of Dr. Schacht has been
far greater. In the memoirs of President Friedrich Ebert, one
reads that Schacht, then a little known official whose affiliation
with the Democratic Party had brought him good Jewish con-
nections, had proposed a scheme whereby Germany was to
purchase with American money the Portuguese colony of
Angola. After 1933 Schacht intensified his drive, with the
result that the point of view taken in Mein Kampf appeared to
have been revised. It is probable, however, that recent agita-
tion has been directed in the main towards getting possession of
Southwest Africa and possibly indirect control of the whole of
South Africa, where a great deal of money has been spent on
propaganda and where the party is relatively strong. For a
180 MEIN KAMPF
right of self-preservation comes into effect; and what has
been denied to kindness will have to be taken with the fist.
Had our forefathers once made their decisions dependent on
the same pacifistic nonsense as that of our present time, we
should own altogether only one third of our present terri-
tory; but in that case a German people would not have any
cause for uneasiness in Europe. No. To their natural de-
termination to fight for their own existence we owe the two
Ostmarks of the Reich and with it that internal strength of
the greatness of our State and national territory that alone
enabled us to exist to this day.
This solution would have been the right one for another
reason also:
Many European States today are comparable to pyramids
standing on their points. Their European territory is ridicu-
lously small as compared with their burden of colonies, for-
eign trade, etc. One may say, the point is in Europe, the
base in the whole world ; in comparison with the American
Union, which still has its bases in its own continent and
touches the remaining part of the world only with its points.
From this results, however, the unheard-of internal
strength of this State and the weakness of most of the
European colonial powers.
Even England is no proof to the contrary, for because of
the British Empire, one only too easily forgets the Anglo-
Saxon world as such. England cannot be compared with
any other State in Europe, if only because of her linguistic
and cultural communion with the American Union.
time it seemed as if the British were willing to make a deal, but
more recently their ardor has cooled perceptibly. At the close
of 1938 'colonial schools' in Germany were training young
people for colonial administration. Some also feel that the Ger-
man government would also not be averse to dividing the
French colonies in Africa with the Italians.
MUNICH 181
For Germany, therefore, the only possibility of carrying
out a sound territorial policy was to be found in the acquisi-
tion of new soil in Europe proper. Colonies cannot serve
this purpose, since they do not appear suitable for settle-
ment with Europeans on a large scale. But in the nine-
teenth century it was no longer possible to gain such colo-
nial territories in a peaceful way. Such a colonial policy
could only have been carried out by means of a hard struggle
which would have been fought out more suitably, not for
territories outside Europe, but rather for land in the home
continent itself.
Such a decision, however, requires undivided devotion.
It doesn't do to set out half-heartedly or even hesitatingly
on a task, the execution of which seems possible only with
the exertion of the utmost energy. Then also the entire
The theory that Germany can expand at the expense of
Russia has very complex origins and possibly an equally com-
plicated future. A large section of the Nazi Party has always
been skeptical of this idea; and after 1919 the dominant point
of view among German nationalists was that Russia must be
made an ally, with whose help the war of revenge might be
waged against the Western Powers. Even Count Ernst zu
Reventlow, a Nazi but with a nuance all his own, once conferred
with Karl Radek on the possibility of such an alliance. From
time to time since 1933 army officers in the two countries have
discussed the thing anew. It is usually thought that the ' crisis '
which Stalin solved by ordering the execution of many high
officials in the Soviet government and army was the product of
one such conversation. It is therefore not at all improbable
that this policy may triumph ultimately despite all that has
been said to the contrary.
Hitler's attitude as stated here seems in the main derivative
from two sources: first, the speculations of Alfred Rosenberg,
and the views entertained by Generals Ludendorff and Max
Hoffman on the Treaty of Brest-Li tovsk, signed with Bolshevist
181 MEIN KAMPF
political authority of the Reich would have had to serve this
exclusive purpose; never should any step have been taken
from considerations other than the realization of this task
and its conditions. One had to make it clear to oneself that
this goal could be reached only through fighting, and quietly
to face the passage at arms.
All the alliances should have been examined exclusively
from this point of view and evaluated according to their
suitability. If one wanted land and soil in Europe, then by
and large this could only have been done at Russia's ex-
pense, and then the new Reich would again have to start
marching along the road of the knights of the orders
[Ordensritter: it is possible that the author meant to use
the word Ritterorden, i.e., crusaders] of former times to give,
Russia in 1918. Rosenberg was born in Reval and educated in
Moscow. Following the triumph of Lenin, he came to Germany
and settled in Munich, where he met Hitler and became the
'philosopher* of the Nazi Party. His obscure racial origins —
he is certainly partly of Tartar blood and may even have Jewish
ancestors — his cloudy intellectual background, and his advo-
cacy of a Germanic religion are familiar topics of conversation
in all circles where Germany is discussed. He once drew from
Dr. Brtlning, speaking before the Reichstag, the following fa-
mous rebuke: 'I have been accused of a dearth of affection for
my country by a gentleman who, while I was fighting for the
fatherland, had not yet made up his mind if he had a father-
land.1
It is quite probable that Rosenberg was initiated in the out-
look of the 'Black Hundred,' as a rightist secret organization
which kept the Czarist police on their toes before the War was
called. This ultra-nationalistic and violently anti-Semitic
group may, indeed, have transmitted to Hitler, through Rosen-
berg, the deeper bases of his doctrine. Careful study of the pos-
sible sources of this man's views is badly needed. At any rate,
Rosenberg: argued that just as a Bolshevist Russia had once
MUNICH 183
with the help of the German sword, the soil to the plow
and the daily bread to the nation.
For such a policy, however, there was only one single ally
in Europe: England.
With England alone, one's back being covered, could one
begin the new Germanic invasion. Our right to do this
would not have been less than that of our forefathers. None
of our pacifists refuses to eat the bread of the East, although
the first plow was once called ' sword ' !
To gain England's favor, no sacrifice should have been
too great. Then one would have had to renounce colonies
and sea power, but to spare British industry our compe-
tition.
Only an unconditionally clear attitude could lead to such
a goal: renouncing world trade and colonies; renouncing a
almost seized Germany, so in turn a Nazi Germany might
seize Russia.
The coveted territory is sometimes held to be Ac Ukraine
which Ludendorff and Hoffman set up as an independent State
in 1918. This is a 'wheat granary' and much else besides.
Assuming that the Ukrainians are dissatisfied with Soviet rule,
the plan would be to foment a revolution there, set up an inde-
pendent State, and exercise a protectorate over it. But in 1918
Poland objected bitterly to the cession of the Province of Cholm
to the Ukraine, and without Cholm a united Ukraine is incon-
ceivable. The effect of a new step in this direction during 1938
immediately caused the Polish government to foster better
relations with Russia. Moreover, it is not dear whether, sup-
posing that all obstacles were surmounted and an independent
Ukraine were set up, Germany could exploit the region as the
theorists assume. As for Russia, it cannot give up without a
struggle a region upon which it depends for bread and inside
which some of its major industrial plants are situated.
Accordingly the arguments in favor of assuming that the
German future lies where Hitler said it did in 1925 must be set
184 MEIN KAMPF
German war fleet. Concentration of the State's entire
means of power in the land army.
The result would certainly have been a momentary re-
striction, but a great and powerful future.
There was a time when England would have permitted
herself to engage in discussions such as these. She under-
stood quite well that Germany, in consequence of her in-
crease in population, had to look for some way out, and
would find this either with England's co-operation in
Europe, or without England in the world.
It was attributable, probably, to this idea that at the turn
of the century London herself tried to approach Germany.
In those days there appeared for the first time that which
we have had an opportunity of observing in a really terrify-
ing manner in these times. One was unpleasantly affected
off against arguments that stress the difficulties in the way.
Equally important as a factor is the growing similarity between
the Russian and the German regimes, now often pointed out.
During 1920, a Social Democratic commission went from Ger-
many to study the actual achievements of the Soviet system.
The report then issued by one of its members, Wilhelm Ditt-
mann, corresponds strikingly with any of the number of reports
on the Nazi system now being written by observers of the same
school.
Rosenberg and others have been convinced that British sup-
port could be gained for any serious attempt to undermine the
Russian system and therewith stamp out the Third Interna-
tional as a fomenter of world revolution. Two reasons for this
conviction are usually advanced. The first is the support re-
ceived by White Russian revolutionists from English sources,
which support has occasionally been deflected to Hitler. The
second is the feud long since in progress between certain British
financiers and the Soviet system. Sir Henry Deterding, the oil
magnate, was themost manifest of the partisans of Germany ; and
MUNICH 185
by the idea that now one would have to 'pull the chestnuts
out of the fire ' for England ; as if an alliance were at all con-
ceivable on a basis other than that of mutual business
transactions! Such a business could very well have been
done with England. British diplomacy was still clever
enough to know that, without reciprocal service, no service
could be expected.
Imagine that a clever German foreign policy assumed
Japan's r61e in 1904, and one can hardly realize what conse-
quences this would have had for Germany.
It would never have come to a 'World War.'
The blood of the year 1904 would have saved the tenfold
amount of the years 1914 till 1918.
But what position would Germany have in the world
today?
To be sure, the alliance with Austria was an absurdity in
that case.
Because this mummy of a State did not unite with Ger-
many in order to fight a war, but rather for the conserva-
tion of eternal peace, which then could have been cleverly
used for the slow but certain extinction of the German na-
tion in the monarchy.
This alliance, however, was an impossibility, for the rea-
son that one could not expect official representation of
national German interests on the part of a State, so long as
it had not even the power and the determination to make
the reader can surmise the existence of other connections if he
studies Ourselves and Germany, by Lord Londonderry, Doubt-
less a more important factor has been the British endeavor to
deflect a war — if there must be war — from western Europe.
Yet, however willing London might be to let Germany become
entangled in the East, the chances have grown less and less im-
pressive that any support for such a maneuver would be forth-
coming.
116 MEIN KAMPF
an end to the process of de-Germanization outside its imme-
diate frontier. If Germany did not possess enough national
consciousness and also ruthlessness to tear the disposition
of the fate of the ten million tribesmen from the hands of
this impossible Habsburg State, then one could hardly
expect that it would ever offer its help to such farseeing and
daring plans. The attitude of the old Reich towards the
Austrian question was the touchstone for its attitude in the
entire nation's fateful struggle.
IH any event, one should not have looked on idly while
the German nation was being pushed back from year to
year, as Austria's value as an ally was determined exclu-
sively by the preservation of the German element.
However, one did not go this way at all.
One feared nothing more than a fight, so that finally in
the least favorable hour one was nevertheless forced into it.
One tried to escape Fate and was overtaken by it. One
dreamed of the preservation of world peace and landed in
the World War.
For this was the most important reason why one never
considered this third way of the formation of a German
future. One knew that the acquisition of new soil was to be
These passages imply not only a critique of Germany's pre-
War policy, but also — indeed, primarily — a negation of the
views then prevalent in the Alldeutscher Verband (Pan-German
League). Its leaders, Heinrich Class in particular, had looked
upon a war with the western powers as inevitable, had there-
fore cherished the alliance with Austria, and had counseled
rapprochement with Russia. After the War generals who had
sponsored the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk professed to believe that
the opposite point of view had been theirs all along; and to their
analysis Hitler added his contempt for the Habsburg State.
It is still far too early to predict that the plan sponsored in
Mein Kampf will be rigidly adhered to.
MUNICH 187
attained only in the East, and one saw the necessary fight,
and yet one wanted peace at any price; for the watchword
of German foreign politics had long ceased to be, preserva-
tion of the German nation by all means, but rather, preser-
vation of the world peace by all available means. It is well
known how this succeeded.
I will come back to this point in particular.
Thus there remained still the fourth possibility: industry
and world trade, sea power and colonies.
Such a development, in the first instance, could be
reached more easily and more quickly. The settlement of
land and soil is a slow process that often takes centuries; in
this its inner strength may be sought that it does not mean
a sudden flaring-up, but a slow but thorough and continued
growing, as compared with the industrial development
which can be blown up in the course of a few years, which
then, however, resembles a soap bubble more than genuine
strength. Of course, a fleet can be built more quickly than
the establishment of farms and settling them with farmers,
a tough struggle; but it can also be destroyed more quickly.
If Germany, nevertheless, chose this way, then one had
at least to recognize clearly that this development also
would some day end in fighting. Only children could be-
lieve that, through friendly and civilized behavior and con-
tinued emphasis on a friendly disposition, could they
gather their ' bananas' in a 'peaceful competition of na-
tions/ as one so nicely and unctuously chattered, without
ever being forced to take up arms.
No; if we went this way, then England would some day
become our enemy. It was more than absurd to get indig-
nant at this, but it was in keeping with our own harmless-
ness that England took the liberty of some day meeting our
peaceful activity with the brutality of the violent egoist.
We, I regret to say, would never have done this.
If European territorial policy could be carried out against
188 MEIN KAMPF
Russia only with England as an ally, then, on the other
hand, colonial and world trade policy was conceivable only
against England with the help of Russia. But then one
would here also have had to accept the consequences ruth-
lessly— and above all one would have to drop Austria
immediately.
Looked at from any direction, this alliance was genuine
madness as early as the turn of the century.
However, one did not at all think of forming an alliance
with Russia against England, nor with England against
Russia, for in both cases the end would have been war, and
to prevent this one decided in favor of a trade and indus-
trial policy. With the 'peaceful economic' conquest of the
world one had a formula which was supposed to break the
neck of the former policy of force once and for all. But
sometimes one was not quite sure of this, especially when
from time to time quite unintelligible threats came over
from England; therefore, one decided to build a fleet, but
again not for attack or for the destruction of England, but
for the 'defense' of the already mentioned 'world peace'
and of the 'peaceful conquest' of the world. Therefore, it
was kept a little more modestly in all and everything, not
only in number, but also in tonnage of the single ships as
well as in armament, so that finally one could manifest
'peaceful* intentions after all.
The talk of the 'peaceful economic conquest' of the
world was certainly the greatest folly that was ever made
the leading principle of a State policy. This nonsense was
still further increased by the fact that one did not shy off
from calling England as the crown witness for the possibility
of such an achievement. What sins the historical doctrine
and conception of our professors helped on thereby can
hardly be remedied, and it is only a striking proof of the
manner in which people today 'learn' history without
understanding or even grasping it. Precisely in England
MUNICH 189
one should have realized the striking refutation of this
theory: no nation has more carefully prepared its economic
conquest with the sword with greater brutality and de-
fended it later on more ruthlessly than the British. Is it not
a characteristic of British statesmanship to draw economic
conquests from political force and at once to mold every
economic strengthening into political power? But what a
mistake to believe that England was perhaps personally too
* cowardly ' to shed her own blood in defense of her economic
policy! The fact that the English people had no 'national
army' in no way proved the contrary; for it is not the mili-
tary form of the defensive power of the moment that counts,
but rather the will and the determination to risk what is at
hand. England always possessed the armament that she
needed. She always fought with the weapons that were
required for success. She fought with mercenaries as long
as mercenaries sufficed; but she also dipped into the most
valuable blood of the entire nation whenever such a sacrifice
alone was able to bring about victory; but the determina-
tion to fight and the tenacity and unflinching conduct
always remained the same.
In Germany, however, by way of school, press, and comic
papers, one gradually created an image of the character of
the Englishman and even more of his realm that led to one
of the most catastrophic self-deceptions; because everything
was gradually infected by this folly, and its consequence
was an underestimation that took its most bitter revenge.
This deception went so deep and was so great that one was
This is doubtless intended for the consumption of the ' English
cousins.' In 1914 Germany was not misled by a few cartoons
into thinking that the English were gulls; it jumped, by reason
of the British government's non-committal statements, to the
belief that it would find England neutral . . . long enough, at
any rate, to permit Moltke to defeat France.
190 MEIN KAMPF
convinced that one saw in the Englishman a merchant as
crafty as he was personally incredibly cowardly. That an
empire of the size of the British had not been brought to-
gether by sneaking and swindling never occurred to our
sublime teachers of professorial wisdom. The few who
uttered warnings were not listened to or were passed by in
silence. I well remember the astonished faces of my com-
rades, when in Flanders we faced the Tommies personally.
After the first few days of battle the conviction dawned on
everyone that these Scots did not quite correspond to those
one had thought fit to describe to us in comic papers and
newspaper dispatches.
In those days I formed my first reflections about the use-
fulness of the form of propaganda.
But this falsification had one good side for those who
spread it; by this example, although it was wrong, one was
able to demonstrate the fact that the economic conquest of
the world was correct. We, too, could succeed where the
Englishman had succeeded, where by our greater honesty
the lack of that specific English 'perfidy' could be looked
upon as a special asset. For in this one hoped to win the
sympathy of the smaller nations especially as well as the
confidence of the greater ones more easily.
For the reason alone that we believed all this quite seri-
ously, we did not see that our honesty was an abomination
in the eyes of the others, while the rest of the world consid-
ered this behavior as the expression of an especially sly
mendacity, till at last, to the greatest astonishment of all,
the revolution gave a deeper insight into the unlimited
stupidity of our 'honest' conviction.
But from the nonsense of this 'peaceful economic con-
quest9 of the world the absurdity of the Triple Alliance was
at once clear and understandable. With what other State,
then, could we form an alliance? Together with Austria one
could really not set out on a ' martial ' conquest, let us say,
MUNICH 191
even in Europe. In this very fact lay the inner weakness of
this alliance from the first day. A Bismarck was allowed
to take this emergency measure, but not any bungling suc-
cessor, and least of all at a time when the essential supposi-
tions for Bismarck's alliance had long ceased to exist; for
Bismarck still believed he had a German State in Austria.
With the gradual introduction of general suffrage, however,
this country had come down to the level of a parliamentar-
ily ruled, un-German medley.
Then, too, the alliance with Austria was disastrous from
the point of view of a racial policy. One tolerated the rising
of a new Slavic great power at the frontier of the Reich
which sooner or later would take an attitude towards Ger-
many quite different from that of, for example, Russia.
But the alliance itself, therefore, was bound to become
weaker from year to year and more hollow internally in the
same proportion in which the only supporters of this idea
lost their influence in the monarchy and were crowded out
of the most authoritative posts.
At the turn of the century the alliance with Austria had
entered into exactly the same state as Austria's alliance with
Italy.
IJere, too, there existed only two possibilities: either one
was in alliance with the Habsburg monarchy, or one had to
protest against the suppression of the German nationality.
Once one starts a thing like that, the end is usually open
battle.
The value of the Triple Alliance was psychologically mod-
est, as the stability of an alliance increases in the measure in
which the individual contracting parties hope to attain cer-
tain seizable, expansive goals through it. On the other
hand, an alliance will be the weaker the more it restricts
itself to the preservation of an existing condition as such.
Here also, as everywhere, the strength lies not in defense but
in attack.
192 MEIN KAMPF
This was already recognized in those days by various
sides, unfortunately not by those who were the so-called
'chosen/ Especially Ludendorff, then Colonel in the Great
Army Staff, pointed to these weaknesses in a memorandum
of the year 1912. But on the part of the 'statesmen,' of
course, no value or importance was attributed to the mat-
ter; for, on the whole, clear common sense becomes appar-
ent only through common mortals, but is not necessary
where 'diplomats' are concerned.
It was indeed fortunate for Germany that the war finally
broke out in 1914 by way of Austria, so that the Habsburgs
were forced to join; had it been the other way round, Ger-
many would have stood alone. Never would the Habsburg
State have been able or willing to join in a fight that had
been caused by Germany. What later one judged so
severely about Italy would have happened even earlier with
Austria; one would have remained 'neutral/ so as to save
the State from a revolution at the very beginning. The
Austrian Slavic nationalities would have smashed the mon-
archy in 1914 rather than have helped Germany.
But only very few were able to realize how great the
dangers and difficulties were which the alliance with the
Danubian monarchy involved.
First of all, Austria had too many enemies who hoped to
inherit from the decaying State, so that a certain hatred was
bound to break out against Germany in the course of time,
as one considered Germany the cause preventing the decline
of the monarchy, hoped for and longed for from all sides.
One arrived at the conviction that Vienna was only to be
reached by way of Berlin.
But with this Germany lost, secondly, the best and most
hopeful possibilities for an alliance. It was replaced by an
ever-increasing tension with Russia and even Italy. In
Rome especially the general mood was as pro-German as
it was anti-Austrian in the heart of even the most humble
Italian, sometimes flaring up vividly.
MUNICH 193
t Now, since one had taken up a commercial and industrial
policy, there was no longer even the slightest cause for a war
against Russia. Only the enemies of both nations could still
have a lively interest in that. Indeed, it was primarily only
Jews and socialists who stirred and fanned public opinion
towards a war between these two States with all possible
means.
Finally, and thirdly, this alliance must needs harbor an
unlimited danger for Germany for the reason that a great
power that was hostile to the Reich of Bismarck could easily
succeed at any time in mobilizing quite a number of States
against Germany, as one was able to promise enrichment
for each of them at the expense of Austria's ally.
One had to stir up the entire East of Europe against the
Danubian monarchy, especially Russia and Italy. Never
would the world coalition have come together that began to
form itself with King Edward's initiating activity, had not
Austria, as Germany's ally, represented a too tempting
legacy. Only thus did it become possible to bring States,
which otherwise had such heterogeneous wishes and aims,
into one single front. With a general advance against Ger-
many, every one of them could hope to receive enrichment
at the expense of Austria. The danger was increased exceed-
ingly by the fact that now Turkey also seemed to be a silent
partner of this unfortunate alliance.
But international Jewish world finance needed this bait
in order to carry out the longed-for plan of a destruction of
4 International Jewry* as the instigator of war was one of
divers concoctions made to soothe the patriotic ache. It is
served up constantly in anti-Semitic brochures and periodicals
of the post- War period. A favorite name was that of Mr. J. P.
Morgan, who was endowed with Hebrew blood. The theory
is a kind of extreme Rightist counterpart to the Marxist view
that the drift to war is inherent in the capitalist system.
194 MEIN KAMPF
Germany, which did not yet submit herself to the general
super-State control of finance and economics. Only with
this was one able to forge a coalition, made strong and cour-
ageous by the armies numbering millions now on the march,
ready to attack the horned Siegfried at last.
The alliance with the Habsburg monarchy, which had
filled me with discontent while I was still in Austria, now
began to become the cause of long internal trials which in
the interval merely strengthened the opinion I had previ-
ously made.-*
Even in those days, in the small circles which I fre-
quented, I did not conceal my opinion that this unfortunate
treaty with a State destined to destruction would also lead
to a catastrophic collapse of Germany, unless one knew how
to break away in time, I never wavered even for a moment
in my firm conviction, even when the storm of the World
War seemed to have excluded all reasonable thinking and
the ecstasy of enthusiasm had even seized those for whom
there should have existed the coldest consideration of real-
ity. When I was at the front, whenever these problems were
discussed, I upheld my opinion that the alliance should be
broken, the sooner the better for the German nation, and
that the price of the abandonment of the Austrian mon-
archy would be no sacrifice at all, if by this Germany could
gain a lessening in the number of her enemies; because it
was not for the preservation of a dissolute dynasty that mil-
lions had put on the steel helmet, but for the salvation of
the German nation.
A few times before the War it seemed as though at least in
one camp there had appeared a slight doubt about the cor-
rectness of the policy of alliance. German conservative cir-
cles from time to time began to warn against too great a
confidence, but this was thrown to the wind, as was done
with all that was sensible. One was convinced that one was
on the right way to a 'conquest' of the world, the success of
MUNICH 195
which would be enormous, the sacrifices for which would be
negligible.
Once more the only choice of the notorious 'un-chosen*
was to watch in silence why and how the 'chosen' marched
straight towards destruction, drawing the innocent people
behind them like the piper of Hamelin.
The deeper causes of the possibility of presenting, and
even of making understandable, the absurdity of an
'economic conquest' as a practical political way, the
preservation of 'world peace' as a political goal, to an
entire people was found in the general indisposition of
our entire political thinking as a whole.
With the victorious march of German technical skill and
industry, with the rising successes of German trade, the
knowledge was gradually lost that all this was only possible
on the basis of a strong State. On the contrary, in many
circles one went so far as to have the opinion that the State
itself owed its existence only to these developments, that
the State itself represented only an economic institution,
that it was to be ruled according to economic rules, and that
therefore it depended in its makeup on economics, a condi-
tion which was then looked upon and praised as by far the
soundest and most natural.
But the State has nothing whatsoever to do with a
definite conception of economics or development of eco-
nomics.
The State is not an assembly of commercial parties
in a certain prescribed space for the fulfillment of economic
tasks, but the organization of a community of physically
and mentally equal human beings for the better possibility
of the furtherance of their species as well as for the fulfill-
ment of the goal of their existence assigned to them by
Providence. This, and nothing else, is the purpose and the
196 MEIN KAMPF
meaning of a State. Economy is, therefore, only one of the
many auxiliary means necessary for reaching this goal. But
it is never the cause or the purpose of a State, provided the
latter is not based from the start on a foundation that is
wrong because it is unnatural. Only thus can it be explained
that the State, as such, need not even have a territorial
limitation as its assumption. This will be necessary only
with those nations which for their own part want to secure
the maintenance of their fellow men; that means that they
are ready to fight the struggle for existence by their own
work. Nations which are able to sneak their way into the
rest of mankind like drones, in order to make them work for
them under all kinds of pretexts, are able to form States
without any certain limited living area of their own. This
may be said primarily of that people under the parasitism
of which, especially today, the entire honest mankind has
to suffer: the Jews.
The Jewish State was never spatially limited in itself; it
was universally unlimited in respect to space, but it was
restricted to the collectivity of a race. This is the reason
why this people always forms a State within other States.
It was one of the most ingenious tricks that was ever in-
vented to let this State sail under the flag of 'religion/
thus securing for it the tolerance that the Aryan is always
ready to grant to a religious denomination. Actually the
Mosaic religion is nothing but a doctrine of the preservation
of the Jewish race. Therefore, it comprises also nearly all
The Old Testament conceived of as a volume written to ex-
pound the nationalistic philosophy of the Jewish race is now a
favorite item on the Nazi cultural menu. Rosenberg writes in
Mythus des 2on Jahrhunderts (Myth of the 2Oth Century):
4 As a book of religion, the Old Testament must be done away
with once and for all. That will end the unsuccessful attempt
of 1500 years to turn us mentally into Jews, with the result,
MUNICH 197
sociological, political, and economic fields of knowledge
which could ever come into question.
fThe instinct of preserving the species is the first cause
of the formation of human communities. But the State
is a folk organism and not an economic organization. A
difference that is as great as it remains incomprehensible
to the so-called 'statesmen/ especially of today. They
believe, therefore, that they can build up the State by
economy, whereas in reality it is always the result of the
activity of those qualities which lie in line with the will to
preserve the species and the race. But these are always
heroic virtues and never commercial egoism, since the pre-
servation of the existence of a species presupposes the
individual's willingness to sacrifice itself. This is the very
among other things, that we are at present materially depend-
ent upon Jews.' For him as for his assistants in Nazi educa-
tional effort (J. Von Leers, for instance), the Old Testament is
nothing but a collection of stories about prostitutes and cattle-
traders. By comparison the Germanic legends and the German
mystics teach heroism, soldierly conduct, and purity. The
endeavors of the Christian Churches to defend the Sacred
Books against the official propagandists are reflected in the
answers to the Mythits written by Catholic and Protestant
scholars. Of especial importance are the Advent sermons
preached by Cardinal Faulhaber, of Munich, on the sub-
ject. These are reprinted in Judaism, Christianity and Ger-
many.
A recent pamphleteer puts this more succinctly: 'Our people
in arms is no longer an army. It has become the youthful fight-
ing nation. The army, the police, the armed organizations of
our youth, can now be used for greater national purposes.
Producers of foodstuffs, members of the teaching profession,
and all other groups in the community are now prepared to
work for the good of the nation as a whole when emergency
198 MEIN KAMPF
meaning of the poet's words ' Und setzet ihr nicht das Leben
tin, nie wird Euch das Leben gewonnen sein* [Unless you
stake your life, never will life be won], that the sacrifice of
the personal existence is necessary in order to guarantee the
preservation of the species. Thus the most essential sup-
position for the formation and preservation of a State is
the presence of a certain feeling of homogeneity on the basis
of the same entity and the same species, as well as the
readiness to risk one's life for this with all means, something
that will lead nations on their own soil to the creation of
heroic virtues, but parasites to mendacious hypocrisy and
malicious cruelty; that is, these qualities must be present
as the supposition for their existence which varies in the
various State forms. But the formation of a State will
always be brought about by at least originally risking these
qualities, whereby in the struggle of self-preservation those
people will be defeated — that means be subject to enslave-
ment and thus, sooner or later, die out — who, in the mutual
battle, call the smallest share of heroic virtues their own,
or which are not adequate to the mendacious ruse of the
hostile parasite. But in this case also this is due not so
much to a lack of cleverness as to a lack of determination
and danger arise.' Cf. Der ideak Stoat (The Ideal State), by
Hanz Hartmann. Another writes: 'A people which seeks above
all else to safeguard its national existence will endeavor to
strengthen and increase its power. A weak state is always a
temptation to neighboring states to expand their possessions at
its expense. As a consequence there can be no peace in Europe
until Germany is the equal in power and prestige of the other
states. Frederick the Great's maxim that peace is best guar-
anteed in the shadow of bayonets is still true today. A people's
will to live and its military strength are one and the same.' Cf .
Deutschland, Deutschland, nichts als Deutschland (Germany,
Germany, Nothing but Germany), by Walter Wallowitz.
MUNICH 199
and courage that tries to conceal itself under the cloak
of a humanitarian attitude.
However, how little the qualities forming and preserving
a State are connected with economy is shown most clearly
by the fact that the inner strength of a State coincides
only in the very rarest cases with the so-called economic
zenith, but that this usually announces in so many examples
the already approaching decay of the State. If one had to
ascribe the formation of human communities first of all
to economic forces or impulses, then the highest economic
development should at the same time indicate the greatest
strength of the State, and not vice versa.
The belief in the force of economy to form or preserve
States seems especially unintelligible when it is predominant
in a country which in each and every thing shows clearly
and impressively the historical reverse. Particularly in
Prussia it is shown with wonderful acuteness that not
material qualities but idealistic virtues alone make possible
the formation of a State. Only under their protection is
economy able to flourish, but with the collapse of the purely
State-forming abilities, economy also breaks down again;
an event that we are able to observe just now in so terribly
a saddening manner. Man's material interests are able to
thrive best as long as they remain in the shadow of heroic
virtues; but as soon as they try to enter the first circle of
existence, they destroy the conditions of their own ex-
istence. -*?
Whenever in Germany an upswing of political power took
place, economy also began to rise; but thereafter, whenever
economy was made the sole content of our people's life, thus
suffocating the ideal virtues, the State collapsed again,
and after a certain time it pulled economy down with it into
the grave.
But if one asks oneself the question what the force*
forming or otherwise preserving a State are in reality, it
200 MEIN KAMPF
can be summed up with one single characterization: the
individual's ability and willingness to sacrifice himself for
the community. But that these virtues have really nothing
whatsoever to do with economics is shown by the simple
realization that man never sacrifices himself for them; that
means : one does not die for business, but for ideals. Nothing
proved the Englishman's psychological superiority in
knowledge of the people's psyche better than the motivation
with which he cloaked his fight. While we fought for bread,
England fought for 'liberty,' and not even for her own, no,
for that of the smaller nations. We laughed at this impu-
dence or we were annoyed by it, thus only proving how
thoughtless and stupid Germany's so-called statesmanship
had become even before the War. Not the slightest idea
was left concerning the nature of the force that leads men
to death out of free will and resolution.
As long as in 1914 the German people was still able to
fight for ideals, it resisted; but as soon as it was allowed
to fight only for its daily bread, it preferred to give up
the game.
But our wise 'statesmen* were astonished at this change
of attitude. It never became clear to them, from the mo-
ment a man fights for an economic interest he tries to avoid
death, as this would rob him forever of the enjoyment of the
reward of his fighting. The anxiety for the rescue of her
own child turns even the most weak mother into a heroine,
and only the fight for the preservation of the species and
the hearth or the State that protected them, drove men at
all times towards the spears of the enemy.
The following sentence may be established as an eternally
valid truth:
Never was a State founded by peaceful economy, but
always only by the instincts of preserving the species, no
matter whether they are found in the field of heroic virtues
or sly cunning; the one results then in Aryan States of
MUNICH 801
work and culture, the other in Jewish colonies of parasites.
But as soon as in a people or in a State, economy as such
begins to choke these instincts, economy itself becomes the
enticing cause for subjection and suppression.
The belief of pre-War times, that by a trade or colonial
policy the world could be opened or even conquered for the
German people in a peaceful way, was a classical symptom
of the loss of the virtues that really form and preserve a
State and of all insight, will power, and active determina-
tion resulting from them; the result of this was, by law of
nature, the World War and its consequences.
For one who did not make deeper researches, however,
this attitude of the German nation — for it was really
almost general — could only represent an insoluble riddle;
was not just Germany a really wonderful example of a realm
that had grown from fundamentals that were purely politi-
cal from the point of view of power? Prussia, the germ
cell of the Reich, was created by resplendent heroism and
not by financial operations or commercial affairs, and the
Reich itself was in turn only the most glorious reward of
political leadership and military death-defying courage.
How could just the German people's political instincts be-
come so morbid? For the question involved here was not
that of a single symptom, but instances of decay which
flared up now in legion like delusive lights brushing up and
down the national body, or which like poisonous ulcers ate
into the nation now here, now there. It seemed as though
a continuous flow of poison was driven into the farthest
blood vessels of this one-time heroic body by a mysterious
power, so as to lead to ever more severe paralysis of sound
reason and of the simple instinct of self-preservation.
By letting these questions pass through my mind in-
numerable times, conditioned by my attitude towards the
German policy of alliance and economy in the years 1912
to 1914, there remained more and more for the solution of
202 MEIN KAMPF
the riddle that power that I had become acquainted with
previously in Vienna, determined from quite different
points of view: the Marxian doctrine and view of life and
its ultimate organizatory effects.
For the second time in my life I dug into this doctrine
of destruction — this time, of course, no longer led by the
influences and effects of my daily surroundings, but directed
by the observation of general events of political life. As I
had recently begun to plunge into the theoretical literature
of this new world and had tried to make clear to myself its
possible effects, I compared these with the daily symptoms
and events of its effect in political, cultural, and economic
life.
But now for the first time I also turned my attention to
the attempts at mastering this world plague.
I studied Bismarck's exemption laws as to their intention,
struggle, and success. But gradually I gained a truly
granite foundation for my own conviction, so that from
that time on I was never forced to make a change in my
internal attitude towards the matter. Also, the relation-
ship between Marxism and Judaism was subjected to a
further thorough examination.
If formerly in Vienna, Germany had above all else ap-
peared to me as an unshakable colossus, now, however,
anxious doubts sometimes began to rise in my mind. With
myself and in the small circles of my acquaintances, I was
wrathful at German foreign politics, and also at what
seemed to me an unbelievably frivolous manner with which
one faced the most important problem that confronted
Germany in those days: Marxism. I really could not
understand how one was able to stagger blindly towards a
danger the ultimate effects of which, corresponding to its
own intentions, were one day bound to be monstrous. In
those days I warned those around me, as I am doing today
on a larger scale, against the fervent prayer of all cowardly
MUNICH 803
wretches: 'Nothing can happen to us!' Was not Germany
subject to exactly the same laws as all other human
communities?
In the years 1913 and 1914, in various circles, some of
which today stand faithfully by the movement, I expressed
for the first time the conviction that the question of the
future of the German nation is the question of the destruc-
tion of Marxism.
In the fatal German policy of alliances I saw only one
of the after-effects that were caused by the destructive
working of this doctrine; for the terrible thing was just the
fact that this poison almost invisibly destroyed all the
foundations of a sound conception of State and economics,
frequently preventing those who were attacked by it even
from guessing how far their activity and intentions already
were the results of this otherwise most decidedly objection-
able view of life.
The internal decline of the German nation had begun
long before, but, as so frequently in life, without the people
seeing clearly who the destroyer of their existence was.
Sometimes one doctored about with the disease, but one
confused the forms of the symptoms with the cause. As
one did not know, or did not want to know, this, the fight
against Marxism had only the value of prattling quackery
CHAPTER V
THE WORLD WAR
DURING the years of my unruly youth nothing had
grieved me more than having been born at a time
when temples of glory were only erected to mer-
chants or State officials. The waves of historical events
seemed to have calmed down to such an extent that the
future appeared really to belong to the 'peaceful compe-
tition of nations/ that means a quiet mutual cheating, ex-
cluding forceful measures. The individual States began
more and more to resemble enterprises which cut the
ground from under each other, stole each other's customers
and orders, and tried to cheat each'other by every means,
setting this in a scene which was as noisy as it was harmless.
This development, however, not only seemed to endure, but
it was intended to transform the world (with general ap-
proval) into one big department store, in the lobbies of
which the busts of the most cunning profiteers and the most
harmless administration officials were to be stored for eter-
nity. The business men were to be supplied by the English,
the administration officials by the Germans; the Jews, how-
ever, would have to sacrifice themselves to being propri-
etors, because, as they themselves admitted, they never
earn anything but only 'pay/ and, besides, they speak
most of the languages.
THE WORLD WAR 205
Why could one not have been born a hundred years
earlier? For instance, at the time of the Wars of Liberation
when a man really was worth something, even without
'business'?!
1 1 was often filled with annoying thoughts because, as it
appeared, of the belated entrance of my journey into this
world, and I looked upon this period of 'quiet and order'
that awaited me as an unmerited mean trick of Fate. Even
as a boy I was not a 'pacifist,' and all attempts at an educa-
tion in this direction came to naught.
The Boer War appeared to me like summer lightning.
Every day I was on the lookout for the newspapers; I
devoured dispatches and reports, and I was happy that
1 was being allowed to witness this heroic struggle, if only
from afar.
The Russo-Japanese War already found me much more
mature and also more attentive. At that time I had taken
sides more for national reasons, and when settling my
opinions I had at once taken the side of the Japanese. In
the defeat of the Russians I saw also a defeat of the Austrian
Slavic nationalities.
Many years since had passed, and what then appeared
to me a foul and lingering illness when I was a boy, I now
considered as the calm before the storm. Already during
my Viennese time there hovered over the Balkans that
fallow sultriness which usually announces a hurricane, but
at times a brighter light flashed up only to return immedi-
ately into the uncanny darkness. But then came the Bal-
kan War, and with it the first gust of wind swept over a
Europe which had grown nervous. The time that followed,
however, weighed heavily upon the people like a nightmare,
brooding like the feverish heat of the tropics, so that in
consequence of the continued anxiety, the feeling of the
impending catastrophe finally turned into longing; might
Heaven at last let Destiny, no longer to be restrained, take
206 MEIN KAMPF
its full course! The first powerful lightning flashed upon
the earth; the storm broke out, and the thunder of the
heavens mingled with the roaring of the batteries of the
World War. <•
When the news of the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdi-
nand reached Munich (I was in the house and heard only
vague details of the event), I was at first worried that the
bullets might perhaps have come from the pistols of Ger-
man students, who, because of their indignation at the
continued Slavization activities of the Heir Presumptive,
wished to free the German nation from this internal
enemy. One could imagine well what the consequences
would have been in that case: a new wave of persecutions
which would now have been 'justified' and 'motivated' in
the face of the whole world. When, however, soon after I
heard the names of the suspected murderers, and read that
their nationality had been established as Serbian, a slight
horror began to creep over me because of this revenge of
inscrutable Destiny.
The greatest friend of the Slavs had been felled by the
bullets of Slav fanatics.
Those who had had an opportunity to observe continu-
ously the relations between Austria and Serbia during the
last few years could not doubt for even a moment that the
stone had been set rolling on a course that could no longer
be checked.
One does the Viennese government an injustice when
today one showers it with reproaches regarding the form and
the contents of the ultimatum it issued. No other power on
earth would have been able to act differently in a similar
situation and under the same circumstances. On the south-
east bordfer of her realm Austria had an inexorable and
mortal enemy who challenged the monarchy at shorter
and shorter intervals, and who would not have given in til!
finally the favorable moment for the destruction of the
THE WORLD WAR 207
realm had actually come. One had reason to fear that this
event would happen not later than with the death of the
old emperor; but then perhaps the monarchy would no
longer be in a position to render any serious resistance.
The entire State, during these last years, was represented
to such an extent by the person of Franz Joseph that from
the beginning, the death of this aged personification of the
realm was looked upon by the great masses as the death of
the realm itself. It was indeed the most cunning artfulness
of the Slav policy to create the impression as though the
Austrian State owed its existence to the really wonderful
and unique skill of this monarch; a flattery which was the
more favorably received in the Hofburg as it corresponded
least of all to the actual merits of the emperor. One was
not able to discover the sting tkat was hidden in this praise.
One did not see, or perhaps one did not want to see, that the
more the monarchy was based on the superior ruling skill
of, as one used to say, this 'wisest of all monarchs' of all
times, the more desperate was the situation bound to be-
come when some day here too Destiny would knock at the
door to collect its tribute.
Would then the old Austria be conceivable without the
old emperor?
Would not the tragedy, which once had met Maria
Theresa, immediately repeat itself?
No, one really does an injustice to Viennese government
circles if they are reproached with the fact that now they
were driving towards a war which perhaps would have been
avoidable after all. It was no longer avoidable, but it could
have been postponed for only one or two more years at the
most. But this was the very curse of the German as well as
of the Austrian diplomacy that it had always tried to post-
pone the unavoidable settlement till at last it was forced to
strike at an unfavorable hour. One can be certain that a
renewed attempt at preserving the peace would have
SOB MEIN KAMPF
brought on the war in spite of this at an even less favorable
time.
No, those who did not want this war would have had to
summon the courage to assume the consequences. These,
however, could have only consisted in the sacrificing of
Austria. But even then the war would have come, though
perhaps not in the form of a fight against all, but in the
form of a dismemberment of the Habsburg monarchy.
But there one would have had to decide whether one
wanted to join or whether one wanted to watch, with
empty hands, Fate take its course.
It is just those who today curse most and pronounce the
wisest opinions about the beginning of the war, who helped
most catastrophically to steer towards war.
For decades Social Democracy had carried on the most
The question of responsibility for the War is still a moot one,
but Hitler is not discussing it here in the sense in which it is
usually propounded. He is taking his stand on the platform of
Ludendorff, Graefe, Class and other Pan-Germans for whom
the issue was never whether a war was coming or whether it
could be avoided, but whether Germany would choose the
right moment to strike and whether it would possess the
requisite military strength. This group was bitterly antagon-
istic to Bethmann-Hollweg for having desired to keep the peace
and for having refused to endorse certain items proposed for
inclusion in the military budget of 1913. That the 'people*
were with them they have never doubted, and still do not
doubt. The whole blame falls, they maintain, on Bethmann-
Hollweg. Accordingly one readies this interesting conclusion:
it seems impossible to hold the German government of 1914
solely responsible for the declaration of war, but the head of the
German government of 1938 has gone on record in this book as
wishing that his predecessor had assumed that responsibility.
Hitler has promised to guarantee that the next time there
be no such blunders. On November 28, 1934, Mr. Winston
THE WORLD WAR 209
villainous war propaganda against Russia, but the Center
Party, for religious reasons, had made the Austrian State
most of all the center and turning-point of German poli-
tics. Now one had to bear the consequences of this mad-
ness. What now came had to come, and it was unavoidable
under any circumstances. The German government's
fault therein was that, in order to preserve peace, it again
and again missed the favorable hour for striking; that it
got entangled in the alliance for the preservation of world
peace, thus finally falling victim to a world coalition which
opposed the very preservation of peace with the determi-
nation of a world war.
If at that time the Viennese government had given the
ultimatum another, milder wording, this would not have
changed anything in the situation except perhaps the fact
that the government itself would have been swept away by
the indignation of the people. Because, in the eyes of the
great masses, the tone of the ultimatum was much too con-
Churchill addressed the House of Commons on the subject of
Germany's program of rearmament. Referring to the air
force, he said: 'On the same basis, that is to say, both sides con-
tinuing with their existing program as at present arranged, by
the end of 1936 — that is, one year farther on, and two years
from now — the German military air force will be nearly
50 per cent stronger, and in 1937 nearly double. ... So much
for the comparison of what may be called the first line air forces
of the two countries/ Replying on behalf of the government,
Stanley Baldwin said: 'I say there is no ground at this moment
for undue alarm and much less for panic. There is no imme-
diate danger confronting us or anyone else in Europe at this
moment. But we must look ahead, and there is ground for grave
anxiety, and that is why we have been watching the situation
for months past, are watching it now, and shall continue to
watch it.'
S10 MEIN KAMPF
siderate and in no way too brutal or even too far-reaching.
Those who today try to deny this are either forgetful empty-
heads or quite deliberately cheats and liars.
The fight of the year 1914 was certainly not forced upon
the masses, good God! but desired by the entire people
itself.
One wanted at last to make an end to the general uncer-
tainty. Only thus is it understandable that for this most
serious of all struggles more than two million German men
and boys joined the flag voluntarily, ready to protect it with
their last drop of blood.
To me personally those hours appeared like the redemp-
tion from the annoying moods of my youth. Therefore I
am not ashamed today to say that, overwhelmed by impas-
sionate enthusiasm, I had fallen on my knees and thanked
Heaven out of my overflowing heart that it had granted
me the good fortune of being allowed to live in these times.
A struggle for freedom had broken out, greater than the
world had ever seen before; because, once Fate had begun
its course, the conviction began to dawn on the great masses
that this time the question involved was not Serbia's or
Austria's fate, but the existence or non-existence of the
German nation.
For the last time in many years, the German nation had
become clairvoyant about its own future. Thus, at the very
beginning of the enormous struggle the intoxication of the
exuberant enthusiasm was mixed with the necessary serious
undertone; for this realization alone made the national ris-
ing become something greater than a mere bonfire. But
this was only too necessary; even then one had no idea
of the possible length and duration of the struggle now
beginning. One dreamt of being home again in winter to
continue work in renewed peace.
THE WORLD WAR 211
What man desires, he hopes and believes. The over-
whelming majority of the nation had long been tired of the
eternally uncertain state of things; thus one could only too
readily understand that one no longer believed in a peaceful
adjustment of the Austro-Serbian conflict, but hoped for
the final settlement. I, too, belonged to these millions.
Hardly had the news of the assassination spread in
Munich, when two ideas immediately entered my head:
first, that war would now at last be unavoidable, and
further, that the Habsburg State would be forced to keep
the alliance; for what I had always feared most was the
possibility that one day Germany herself, perhaps just in
consequence of this alliance, would be entangled in a con-
flict without Austria being the direct cause for this, but
that in such a case the Austrian State, for domestic political
reasons, would not summon the energy to decide to stand
by its ally. The Slav majority would certainly immediately
have begun to sabotage such an intention by the State
itself, and would certainly have preferred to smash the
entire State into bits rather than to give the required help
to the ally. This danger, however, was now averted. The
old State had to fight whether it wanted to or not.
My own attitude towards the conflict was very clear and
simple to me : in my eyes it was not Austria fighting for some
Serbian satisfaction, but Germany fighting for her exist-
ence, the German nation for its being or non-being, for
freedom and future. Bismarck's work now had to fight;
what the fathers once had gained by fighting with their
heroic blood in the battles from Weissenburg to Sedan and
Paris, now young Germany had to earn again. If this fight
would be carried through victoriously, then our nation
would also have returned to the circle of ,'the nations which arc
great in external power, and only then could the German
Reich prove a powerful shield of peace without being forced
to reduce its children's daily bread for the sake of this peace.
212 MEIN KAMPF
As a boy and a young man I had often formed the wish
that at least once I might be allowed to prove by deeds
that my national enthusiasm was not an empty delusion.
Often I considered it a sin to shout 'hurrah' without per-
haps having the inner right to do so; for who may use this
cry without having proved himself there where all play is
at an end and where the inexorable hand of the Goddess of
Fate begins to weigh nations and men according to the
truth and the durability of their convictions? Thus my
heart, like that of a million others, was overflowing with
proud happiness that at last I was able to free myself from
this paralyzing feeling. So many times had I sung 'Deutsch-
land uber dies' and shouted with full voice 'Heil,' that I
considered it almost a belated favor that I was now allowed
to appear as a witness before the tribunal of the Eternal
Judge in order to proclaim the truth and the sincerity of my
convictions. From the first hour I was certain that in the
event of war (which appeared unavoidable to me), I would
abandon my books in one way or the other. But I knew
just the same that my place would be there where my inner
voice directed me to go.
I had left Austria primarily for political reasons: but
what was more natural that now that the fight had begun
that I had to act according to this conviction? I did not
want to fight for the Habsburg State, but I was ready to die
^t any time for my people and the Reich it constituted.
On August 3 I submitted a direct petition to His Majesty
King Ludwig III with the request that I be permitted to
serve in a Bavarian regiment. The cabinet office was cer-
tainly more than busy in those days; my joy was the greater
when on the following day I received the reply to my re-
quest. My joy and my gratitude knew no end when I had
opened the letter with trembling hands and read that
my request had been granted and that I was summoned
to report to a Bavarian regiment. A few days later I wore
THE WORLD WAR 213
the uniform which I waa not to take off again for six
years.
Thus, as probably for every German, there began for me
the most unforgettable and the greatest period of my mortal
life. In the face of the events of this mighty struggle the
entire past fell back into shallow oblivion. It is now ten
years since this mighty event happened, and with proud
sadness I think back to those weeks of the beginning of the
heroic fight of our people which Fate had graciously per-
mitted me to share.
f As if it were yesterday, one picture after the other passes
before my eyes: I see myself donning the uniform in the
circle of my dear comrades, turning out for the first time,
drilling, etc., till finally the day came when we marched.
There was only one thing that worried me at that time,
like so many others also: that was whether we would not
arrive at the front too late. This alone disturbed my peace
again and again. Thus in every jubilation over a new
heroic deed there seemed to be a hidden drop of bitterness
as with every new victory the danger of our being delayed
seemed to increase.
Finally, the day came when we left Munich in order to
start fulfilling our duty. Now for the first time I saw the
Rhine as we were riding towards the west along its quiet
waters, the German river of all rivers, in order to protect it
against the greed of the old enemy. When through the deli-
cate veil of the dawn's mist the mild rays of the early sun
set the Niederwalddenkmal shimmering before our eyes,
the 'Watch on the Rhine' roared up to the morning sky
from the interminably long transport train and I had a
feeling as though my chest would burst.
Then at last came a damp, cold night in Flanders through
which we marched silently, and when the day began to
emerge from the fog, suddenly an iron salute came whizzing
over our heads towards us and with a sharp report the
214 MEIN KAMPF
small bullets struck between our rows, whipping up the
wet earth; but before the small cloud had dispersed, out of
two hundred throats the first hurrah roared a welcome to
the first messenger of death. But then it began to crackle
and roar, to sing and howl, and with feverish eyes each one
of us was drawn forward faster and faster over turnip fields
and hedges till suddenly the fight began, the fight of man
against man. But from the distance the sounds of a song
met our ears, coming nearer and nearer, passing from com-
pany to company, and then, while Death busily plunged his
hand into our rows, the song reached also us, and now we
passed it on : ' De utschland, DeutscUand uber alles, Uber dttes
inderWeltl'
After four days we came back. Even our step had be-
come different. Boys of seventeen now resembled men.
The volunteers of the regiment had perhaps not yet
learned to fight properly, but they knew how to die like old
soldiers.
This was the beginning. <*•
Thus it continued year after year; but the romance of
Hitler here set the example for what would later prove to be
a deluge of war tales. Concerning his military record, the fol-
lowing facts are known ; that he served as a messenger between
regimental headquarters and the front; that he was a good
soldier who refused to the very end to join in criticism of the
way things were being run; that his temperament made his
commanding officer doubt the wisdom of promoting him to
any sort of non-commissioned rank above that of corporal, and
that he occupies a modest but honorable place in the history of
the Regiment List, to which he belonged. The particular ex-
ploit for which he received the Iron Cross is shrouded in secrecy,
but most biographers agree that there was no reason why it
should not have been awarded. Hitler, by Rudolf Olden, at-
tempts a critical evaluation of the legend that had grown up
round Hitler's war experience.
THE WORLD WAR 215
the battles had turned into horror. The enthusiasm gradu-
ally cooled down and the exuberant joy was suffocated by
the fear of death. The time came when everyone had to
fight between the instinct of self-preservation and the ad-
monition of duty. I, too, was not spared this inner struggle.
Whenever death was on the hunt, an undefinable something
tried to revolt, tried to present itself to the weak body in
the form of reason and was really nothing but cowardice
which in this disguise tried to ensnare the individual. A
strong pulling and warning set in and only the last remain-
ing spark of conscience made the decision. But the more
this voice tried to warn me to take heed, the louder and the
more urgently it lured, the sharper was my resistance, till
finally after a long inner struggle my sense of duty tri-
umphed. This struggle had already been decided for me
during the winter of 1915-16. My will had finally become
master. Whereas during the first days I was able to join
exuberantly and laughingly in the storm, now I was quiet
and determined. This was the most enduring. Only now
could Fate set out for the last tests without tearing my
nerves or my reason giving out.
The young volunteer had become an old soldier.
But this change had taken place in the entire army. It
had become old and hard through perpetual fighting, and
those who were not able to resist the storm were broken by it.
But only now could one judge this army. Now, after
two or three years during which it had been thrown from
one battle into the other, constantly fighting against a force
superior in number and weapons, suffering hunger and en-
during deprivations, now was the time to prove the quality
of this unique army.
Thousands of years may pass, but never will one be
allowed to talk about or mention heroism without remem-
bering the German army of the World War. Then, out of
the veil of the past, the iron front of the gray steel helmet
816 MEIN KAMPF
will become visible, not wavering and not retreating, a mon-
ument to immortality. As long as Germans live they will
remember that these were the sons of their nation,
f At that time I was a soldier and did not want to discuss
politics. It really was not the time for it. I am still con-
vinced today that even the most humble carter had done
his fatherland more valuable services than the first, let us
say, 'parliamentarian.' I never hated these prattlers more
than just at that time, when every regular fellow who had
to say something shouted it into the enemy's face, or, more
appropriately, left his mouth at home and silently did his
duty in some place. Yes, in those days I hated all these
'politicians,1 and if I had had anything to say, a parlia-
mentarian spade battalion would have been formed at
once; then they would have been able to babble among
themselves to their hearts1 content if they had to, and they
would not have been able to annoy or even to harm the
decent and honest part of mankind. ^
At that time, therefore, I did not want to hear anything
about politics, but I could not help defining my attitude
towards certain manifestations which concerned, after all,
the entire nation, but most of all us soldiers,
f There were two things which in those days annoyed me
and which I considered detrimental.
Soon after the news of the first victories, a certain press
Not a few of the Reichstag delegates served at the front;
some were killed in action. Most of the others were beyond
military age, and some of these served on difficult and danger-
ous missions. More interesting is the unrestrained endorse-
ment of LudendorfFa military totalitarianism — the absolute
disavowal of political action in time of war. The wicked ones
are those who believed that peace might be reached, after years
of destructive warfare, on a basis of compromise and who felt
that Germany, by giving guarantees not to violate the integrity
of Belgium, might divide her foes.
THE WORLD WAR 217
began slowly, and at first perhaps unrecognizably to many,
to pour drops of wormwood into the general enthusiasm.
This was done under the mask of a certain benevolence
and well-meaning, even of a certain anxiety. One harbored
doubts about too great an exuberance in celebrating the
victories. One feared that in this form it was unworthy and
did not correspond to the dignity of such a great nation.
The bravery and the heroic courage of the German soldier
were really a matter of course, and one should not be carried
away too much by thoughtless outbursts of joy, especially
for the sake of public opinion abroad which would certainly
be more impressed by a quiet and dignified form of joy than
by excessive exultation, etc. Finally we Germans were not
to forget even now that the war had not been our intention,
and that therefore we should not be ashamed to admit,
openly and like men, that we were ready to contribute, at
any time, our share towards the reconciliation of mankind.
Therefore it would not be wise to blacken the purity of the
army's deeds with too much shouting, as the rest of the
world would show but little understanding for such behav-
ior. One admired nothing more than the modesty with
which a genuine hero — quietly and silently — forgets his
deeds; for this was supposed to be the essence of the whole
affair.
But now, instead of taking such a fellow by his long ears
and leading him to, and pulling him up on, a high pole with
a rope, so that the celebrating nation would no longer be
able to insult the aesthetic feeling of this knight of the ink,
one actually began to protest this 'unseemly' manner of
jubilating over victories.
One had not the faintest idea, however, that this enthu-
siasm, once it has been broken, cannot be reawakened at
will. It is an intoxication and it is best to keep it in this
condition. But how was one to endure in a fight without
this power, a fight which in all human probability made the
211 MEIN KAMPF
most enormous demands on the spiritual qualities of the
nation?
I knew the psyche of the great masses only too well not
to know that one would not be able to stoke the fire neces-
sary to keep this iron hot with 'aesthetic9 elation. In my
eyes one was mad because nothing was done to increase this
boiling heat of passion; but I simply could not understand
that one even curtailed that which fortunately was present.
The second thing that annoyed me was the way and the
manner in which one thought fit to face Marxism. In my
eyes, this only proved that one really had not the slightest
idea of this pestilence. One seemed to believe, in all seri-
ousness, that by the assurance that one no longer knew
parties, one thought one had brought Marxism to reason
and restraint.
That here one has to deal not with a party but with a
doctrine which must of necessity lead to the destruction of
entire mankind, this one understood the less as one did not
hear it in the Jew-infested universities, and as otherwise
only too many of our higher officials, particularly, out of
idiotic conceit, inculcated in them by education, did not
think it worth the trouble to pick up a book and to learn
something which did not belong in the curriculum of their
high school. The most important changes pass by these
'heads' without leaving a trace, and therefore the State
institutions nearly always lag behind the private ones. God
knows that to them, most of all, the popular proverb ap-
plies: 'Was der Bauer nicht kennt, das frisst er nicht9 [a
peasant does not eat what he does not know].
It was an unequaled absurdity to identify the German
worker with Marxism in the days of August, 1914. In
those hours the German worker had disentangled himself
from the embrace of this poisonous plague, as otherwise he
would never have been able to start this fight. But one was
stupid enough to think that Marxism had now perhaps
THE WORLD WAR 219
become ' national ' ; a flash of genius which only shows that
during these long years none of these official State leaders
had thought it worth the trouble to study the nature of this
doctrine, for otherwise such insanity would hardly have
occurred.-^
Marxism, the ultimate aim of which was and will always
be the destruction of all non-Jewish national States, to its
dismay saw during July, 1914, the German working class,
which it had ensnared, awake to enlist in the service of the
country more and more quickly from hour to hour. In a
few days the whole show of this infamous deception of the
nation had frittered away, and the Jewish rabble leaders
stood there lonely and abandoned, as though not a trace
of the idiocy and lunacy which it had infiltered into the
masses for sixty years remained. It was a bad moment for
the deceivers of the German nation 's working class. But
immediately the leaders recognized the danger which
threatened them, they at once pulled the magic cap of lies
over their ears and impudently joined in aping the national
rising.
But now the time should have arrived for proceeding
against the entire fraudulent company of these Jewish
poisonmongers of the nation. Now one should have dealt
summarily with them without the slightest consideration
for the clamor that would probably arise, or, what would
have been still better, without pity for all their lamenta-
tions. In August of the year 1914, the Jewish haggling of
international solidarity had disappeared at one stroke from
the heads of the German working class, and instead, after a
few weeks, American shrapnel began to pour down the
blessings of fraternity on the helmets of the marching col-
umns. It was the duty of a prudent government, now that
the German laborer had found his way back to his nation-
ality, to root out without pity the instigators against this
nationality.
220 MEIN KAMPF
If the best were killed on the front, then one could at
least destroy the vermin at home.
But instead of this, His Majesty the Kaiser in person
extended his hand towards the old criminals, thus showing
the cunning murderers of the nation forbearance and
giving them the chance to set their minds at ease,
f Now the serpent had a chance to continue its work, more
carefully than before but also more dangerously. While the
honest ones were dreaming of peace within the castle walls,
the perjured criminals organized the revolution.
It made me discontented in my mind that at that time
one had decided on such terrible half measures; but that
its end would be such a terrible one even I would not have
thought possible.
But what was to be done now? To put the leaders of the
whole movement behind lock and bar, to put them on trial
and deliver the nation of them. To apply ruthlessly the
entire military means in order to root out this pestilence.
The parties had to be dissolved, the Reichstag, if necessary,
to be brought to reason at the point of the bayonet, but,
better still, to adjourn it immediately. Just as today the
Republic is allowed to dissolve parties, one would have had
more reason to apply similar means in those days. The ex-
istence or non-existence of an entire nation was at stake !
But then, of course, a question arose: Can spiritual ideas
be extinguished by the sword? Can one fight 'views of life1
by applying brute force?
Even then I asked myself this question more than once.
When thinking over analogous cases to be found in his-
tory, particularly on a religious basis, the following funda-
mental realization is the result:
Conceptions and ideas, as well as movements with a cer-
tain spiritual foundation, may these be right or wrong, can
be broken at a certain point of their development with
technical means of power only if these physical weapons are
THE WORLD WAR 221
at the same time the supporters of a new kindling thought,
an idea or view of life.
Use of force alone, without the driving forces of a spir-
itual basic idea as presupposition, can never lead to the
destruction of an idea and its spreading, except in the form
of a thorough eradication of even the last representative
and the destruction of the last tradition. This, however,
means the disappearance of such a State body for endless
times, sometimes forever, from the circle of political and
powerful importance, as such a sacrifice in blood, as shown
by experience, often hits the best part of a nationality, be-
cause every persecution that takes place without being
based on a spiritual presupposition does not seem justified
from the moral point of view, thus instigating just the more
valuable parts of a nation to voice a protest which then
expresses itself in the acquisition of the spiritual contents
of the unjustly persecuted movement. This happens with
many merely out of the feeling of opposition against the
attempt at throttling an idea by brute force.
With this, however, the number of the internal adher-
ents grows in the measure in which the persecution grows.
Therefore, the complete extinction of a new doctrine can be
carried out only by way of an eradication which is thorough
and so constantly increasing that by this all the really val-
uable blood is withdrawn from the nation or the State
involved. But this will take its revenge, because there now
can take place a so-called 'inner' purification, this, however,
at the expense of a general weakness. But from the very
beginning such procedure will be in vain if the doctrine tc
be fought has already stepped outside of a certain small
circle.
As with all growth, here, too, the early period of child-
hood offers the best possibility for such extinction, for with
the growing years the force of resistance increases, till
finally with approaching age it again gives way to the
222 MEIN KAMPF
weakness of youth, though in a different form and for other
reasons.
It is a fact that all attempts at the extinction of a doc-
trine and its organizatory effects by force without a spir-
itual foundation lead to failures and frequently even end
contrary to that desired, for the following reason:
The very first condition for such a manner of fight with
the weapons of pure force is, and will always be, persever-
ance. That means that only the continued and regular use
of the methods applied for suppressing a doctrine permits
of the possibility of success. But as soon as intermittent
force alternates with indulgence, the doctrine to be sup-
pressed will not only recover again and again, but it will be
able to draw new values from every persecution, for after
the ebbing of such a wave of pressure, the indignation at
the misery suffered leads new followers to the old doctrine,
but those who are already present will with sharper spite
and deeper hatred than before adhere to it, and even those
who have fallen off will try to return to their old attitude
after the danger has been averted. Only in the eternally
regular use of force lies the preliminary condition for
success. This perseverance is only and always the result of
a certain spiritual conviction alone. All force which does
not spring from a firm spiritual foundation will be hesitat-
ing and uncertain. It lacks the stability which can only
rest in a fanatical view of life. It is the outcome of the
energy of the moment and the brutal determination of a
single individual, but therefore it is subjected to the change
of the personality and its nature and strength.
But to this something else must be added : -<*
Every view of life, be it more of a political or of a religious
nature (sometimes the borderline between them can be as-
certained only with difficulty), fights less for the negative
destruction of the adversary's world of ideas, and more for
the positive carrying-out of its own doctrine. Therefore, its
THE WORLD WAR 223
fight is less a defense than an attack. Even as regards the
definiteness of its goal, it has an advantage, as this goal
represents the victory of its own idea, while the other way
round it is difficult to decide when the negative aim of the
destruction of the enemy's doctrine may be considered as
completed and assured. For this reason alone the attack
on a view of life will be more carefully planned and also
more powerful than the defense of such a doctrine; as here,
too, the decision is due to the attack and not to the defense.
But the fight against a spiritual power by means of force is
only a defense as long as the sword itself does not appear
as the supporter, propagator, and announcer of a new spir-
itual doctrine.
Thus, summing up, one can say the following:
Every attempt at fighting a view of life by means of force
will finally fail, unless the fight against it represents the
form of an attack for the sake of a new spiritual direction.
Only in the struggle of two views of life with each other can
the weapon of brute force, used continuously and ruth-
lessly, bring about the decision in favor of the side it sup-
ports.
It was on this account that the fight against Marxism had
failed so far.
This was also the reason why Bismarck's anti-socialist
laws finally failed and were bound to fail, despite all efforts.
The platform of a new view of life was lacking for the rise
of which the fight could have been fought. Only the pro-
verbial wisdom of ministerial high officials could produce
the opinion that the trash about the so-called 'State author-
ity* and 'peace and order' could be a suitable basis for the
spiritual impetus of a struggle for life and death.
fBut because a really spiritual foundation of this fight
was lacking, Bismarck was forced to hand the carrying-out
of his anti-socialist laws to the judgment and the volition
of those institutions which themselves were already the
2S4 MEIN KAMPF
product of the Marxian way of thinking. Thus the Iron
Chancellor, by handing over the responsibility for his fight
against Marxism to the benevolence of the bourgeois
democracy, set the wolf to mind the sheep.
But all this was only the necessary result of the lack of a
fundamentally new view of life opposed to Marxism, with
an impetuous will to conquer.
Thus the result of Bismarck's fight was only a severe dis-
appointment.
But were circumstances different during or at the begin-
ning of the World War? Unfortunately not.
The more I occupied myself in those days with the idea
of a necessary change in the attitude of State governments
towards Social Democracy as the present personification of
Marxism, the more I recognized the lack of a suitable sub-
stitute for this doctrine. What, then, did one want to give
to the masses, if one were to suppose that Social Democracy
would be broken? There was not one movement of which
one could have assumed that it would have succeeded in
drawing under its spell the more or less leaderless great
masses of workers. It is absurd and more than stupid to
assume that the international fanatic who has left the class
party would now immediately join a bourgeois party; that
means a new class organization. No matter how disagree-
able this may be for several organizations, it cannot be
denied that to the bourgeois politician the separation of
classes appears absolutely natural as long as the political
effects are not unfavorable to him.
The denial of these facts proves not only the impudence
but also the stupidity of the liars, i
On the whole, one should guard against believing the
great masses to be more stupid than they actually are. In
political matters feeling often decides more accurately than
reason. The opinion, however, that the masses9 stupid
international attitude is sufficient proof of the incorrectness
THE WORLD WAR 225
of their feeling can be refuted thoroughly at once by the
simple argument that the pacifistic democracy is not less
insane, but that its supporters come almost exclusively
from the bourgeois camp. As long as millions of citizens
ardently worship the Jewish democratic press every morn-
ing, it would not do for the masters to make jokes about the
stupidity of the 'comrade' who, after all, devours only the
same rubbish though in a different makeup. In both cases
the manufacturer is one and the same Jew.
Therefore, one should guard well against refuting things
which actually exist. The fact that the class question is not
at all one of spiritual problems as one would like to make us
believe, especially before elections, cannot be denied. The
class pride of a great part of our people, just like the low
esteem of the hand laborer, is, above all, a symptom which
does not come from the imagination of one who is moon-
struck.
But apart from this, it shows the inferior thinking ability
of our so-called intelligentsia when just in those circles one
does not understand that a condition which was not able to
prevent the rise of a pestilence, such as Marxism, will far
less be able to regain that which is lost.
The ' bourgeois ' parties, as they call themselves, will never
be able to draw the 4 proletarian ' masses into their camp, as
here two worlds face each other, separated partly naturally,
partly artificially, and their attitude towards each other
can only be a fighting one. But here the younger one will
succeed — and this would be Marxism. ^»
In fact, a fight against Social Democracy in 1914 was
conceivable, but it was doubtful how long this condition
could have lasted because of the lack of every practical sub-
stitute.
There was a great gap.
I was of this opinion long before the War, and therefore
I could not make up my mind to join one of the existing
226 MEIN KAMPF
parties. This opinion was enhanced in the course of the
events of the World War by the obvious impossibility of
fighting ruthlessly against Social Democracy because of the
absence of a movement which had to be more than a ' par-
liamentarian' party.
I talked openly about this to my more intimate friends.
What is more, I now had for the first time the idea of
occupying myself politically later on.
And this was the particular reason that made me assure
my small circle of friends that after the War I would be
active as an orator along with my profession.
I think that I meant this very seriously.
CHAPTER VI
WAR PROPAGANDA
AT THE time of my attentive following of all political
events, the activities of propaganda had always
been of extremely great interest to me. In it I saw
an instrument which just the Socialist-Marxist organiza-
tions mastered and knew how to apply with expert skill. I
learned very soon that the right use of propaganda repre-
sents an art which was and remained almost entirely un-
known to the bourgeois parties. Only the Christian-Social-
ist movement, especially during Lueger's time, acquired a
certain virtuosity with this instrument and it owed much of
its success to it.
But it was shown only during the War to what enor-
mously important results a suitably applied propaganda
may lead. Unfortunately, everything has to be studied on
the other side; for the activity on our side was more than
modest in this respect. However, the very failure of the en-
tire enlightenment on the side of the Germans — a fact
which was bound to stare in the face of every soldier — now
caused me to occupy myself still more thoroughly with
this question.
There was often more than enough time for thinking,
but it was unfortunately the enemy who gave us only too
good an object lesson.
228 MEIN KAMPF
For what we failed to do in this direction was made up
by the enemy with really unheard-of skill and ingenious
deliberation. I learned infinitely much more from the
enemy's war propaganda. But time marched on without
leaving an impression on the brains of those who most of
all should have taken this as a lesson; partly because they
deemed themselves too clever to take lessons from others,
and partly because the honest will to do so was lacking.
Was there any propaganda at all on our side?
To my regret, I can only answer no. Everything that
was actually undertaken in this direction was so incomplete
and wrong from the very first moment that it not only did
not help, tnit sometimes did considerable harm.
Insufficient in form its nature was psychologically wrong :
this was necessarily the result of a careful examination of
the German war propaganda.
It seemed that one was not quite clear about the first
question, namely: Is war propaganda a means or an end?
It is a means, and therefore it has to be judged from the
point of view of the end. But its form has to be properly
adapted to the aim which it serves. But it is also clear that
the importance of its aim can be a different one according
to the point of view of the general demand and that there-
fore propaganda is also defined differently according to its
inner value. But the aim for which the War was fought
was the most sublime and the most overpowering which
man is able to imagine: it was the freedom and independence
of our nation, the assurance of subsistence for the future,
and — the honor of the nation; something that, despite all
opinions to the contrary, is still present today or rather
ought to be present, as nations without honor usually lose
their freedom and independence, which, in turn, cor-
responds only to a higher justice, as generations of scoun-
drels without honor do not deserve freedom. But he who
wants to be a cowardly slave must not and cannot have
WAR PROPAGANDA 2S9
any honor, as thus honor would become subject to general
disdain within the shortest time.
It was for the struggle for its human existence that the
German people fought, and to support this si
purpose of the war propaganda; the aim
it to victory.
But if nations fight for their existenc
that means if they are approached by
of ' to be or not to be ' — all reflections
ity or aesthetics resolve themselves to n^
eluded; because all these ideas are not flodKnc^atout in they^v
world ether, but come from the imaginat*
are connected with him. His departure from
dissolves these ideas into insubstantial non-<
Nature does not know them. But in mankind, too, they are
characteristics of only a few people or rather races accord-
ing to the measure in which they originate from their feel-
ings. Humanity and aesthetics would even disappear from
a world inhabited by men as soon as it lost the races which
are the creators and bearers of these ideas.
Where a people's fight for existence in this world is con-
cerned, all these ideas are of subordinate importance; they
even have no bearing on the form of this struggle at all as
soon as they might bring on a paralysis of the struggling
nation's force of self-preservation. But in this case this is
always the only visible result.
As regards the question of humanity, Moltke once ex-
pressed himself to the effect that in case of war humanity
always resides in the brevity of the procedure, so that the
sharpest kind of fight is most suitable for it.
However, if one were now to try to bring up the drivel
of aesthetics, etc., where these considerations are concerned,
there can be really only one answer to it: questions of des-
tiny, as important as a people's struggle for existence, elim-
inate all obligation towards beauty. The least beauti-
230 MEIN KAMPF
ful that can exist in human life is and remains the yoke of
slavery. Or does this Schwdbing decadence perhaps per-
ceive tne present-day fate of the German nation as 'aes-
thetic1? There is certainly no need to discuss this with the
Jews, the modern inventors of this culture perfume. Their
entire existence is a protest incarnate against the aesthetics
of the Lord's image.
But once these^, points of view of humanity and beauty
are beside the point where the struggle is concerned, they
cannot be applied as a means to measure propaganda.
During the War propaganda was a means to an end, but
this in turn was the German people's fight for existence;
thus propaganda could therefore be looked upon only from
the principles proper to it. Then the most cruel weapons
were humane if they conditioned the quicker victory, and
beautiful were only those methods which helped the nation
to secure the dignity of its freedom.
This was the only possible attitude towards the question
of war propaganda in such a fight for life or death.
Had the so-called responsible authorities made this clear
to themselves, the uncertainty about the form and the ap-
plication of this weapon would never have originated; for
this is also only a weapon, though a frightful one, in the
hand of the expert.
fThe second question of actually decisive importance was
the following: To whom has propaganda to appeal? To
the scientific intelligentsia or to the less educated masses?
It has to appeal forever and only to the masses!
: Propaganda is not for the intelligentsia or for those who
unfortunately call themselves by that name today, but
scientific teaching. But propaganda is in its contents as
far from being science as perhaps a poster is art in its pre-
sentation as such. A poster's art lies in the designer's
ability to catch the masses' attention by outline and color.
The poster for an art exhibition has to point only to the art
WAR PROPAGANDA 231
of the exhibition; the more it succeeds in this, the greater
therefore is the art of the poster itself. Further, the poster
is to give to the masses an idea of the importance of the ex-
hibition, but it is in no way to be a substitute for the art
represented by the exhibition. Therefore, he who wants to
occupy himself with art itself has really to study more than
the poster; yes, for him it is by far not sufficient merely to
'walk through' the exhibition. It may be expected of him
that he bury himself in the individual works by thoroughly
looking them over so that then he may gradually form a just
opinion for himself.
The situation is a similar one with what today we call
propaganda.
The task of propaganda lies not in a scientific training of
the individual, but rather in directing the masses towards
certain facts, events, necessities, etc., the purpose being to
move their importance into the masses' field of vision.
The art now is exclusively to attack this so skillfully that
a general conviction of the reality of a fact, of the necessity
Hitler says he awakened during the War to the importance
of propaganda, discovered that German methods were too
high-brow and too little adapted to drum up popular emotion,
and learned that the first rule of the propagandist must be to
find out what will affect the masses. In view of the fact that
propaganda became a fundamental concern of the Nazi r6gime,
some attention to Hitler's contributions to this science is called
for. There is a convenient analysis in Propaganda Analysis,
Vol. I (New York, 1938). This essay, prepared by experts,
reveals very clearly how the various weapons of the militant
propagandist — e.g., calling names — have been employed. It
relegates to a position of minor importance, an aspect of the
matter on which Hitler lays great stress — that the propa-
gandist who is trying to wage war must eliminate the 'esthetic'
and concentrate on stirring up hatred. Therefore this may be
emphasized here. Many are convinced (and base this convic-
232 MEIN KAMPF
of an event, that something; that is necessary is also right,
etc., is created. But as it is not and cannot be science in it-
self, as its task consists of catching the masses9 attention,
just like that of the poster, and not in teaching one who is
already scientifically experienced or is striving towards
education and knowledge, its effect has always to be directed
more and more towards the feeling, and only to a certain
extent to so-called reason.**
All propaganda has to be popular and has to adapt its
spiritual level to the perception of the least intelligent of
those towards whom it intends to direct itself. Therefore its
spiritual level has to be screwed the lower, the greater the
mass of people which one wants to attract. But if the prob-
lem involved, like the propaganda for carrying on a war, is
to include an entire people in its field of action, the caution
tion on long personal experience) that the most effective in-
strument in the Nazi propagandist's hands has been the
spectacle of cruelty. When masses of men have been repressed
for a long time by adverse social, political and economic con-
ditions, they seem to accept the open expression — above all
the open demonstration — of hatred with deep satisfaction.
Almost every war is followed by strange manias of persecution
which affect the civilian population more than they do the
returning soldier, unless that soldier deems himself a victim
of ingratitude. Thus after 1918 the United States witnessed the
spread of the Ku Klux Klan, a crusade against the 'Reds/
and several anti-negro riots in major cities. In France hostility
to American and other foreign troops was so marked that
cantonments had to be evacuated more speedily than had been
planned.
In Germany, at all events, one principal reason why the
Rightist revolt against the Republic succeeded was the progres-
sive emphasis upon hatred in action. The bloody repression
which marked the end of the short-lived 'Soviet' state in
Bavaria did not arouse sentiments of pity in all the citizens of
WAR PROPAGANDA 233
in avoiding too high spiritual assumptions cannot be too
great.
The more modest, then, its scientific ballast is, and the
more it exclusively considers the feelings of the masses, the
more striking will be its success. This, however, is the best
proof whether a particular piece of propaganda is right or
wrong, and not the successful satisfaction of a few scholars
or ' aesthetic ' languishing monkeys.
This is just the art of propaganda that it, understanding
the great masses' world of ideas and feelings, finds, by a
correct psychological form, the way to the attention, and
further to the heart, of the great masses. That our super-
clever heads never understand this proves only their men-
tal inertia or their conceit.
But if one understands the necessity of the attitude of
Munich. The Hitler putsch of 1923 made the Party more
popular in the city than it had been before. When the Nazis
drove dissenters — or imaginary dissenters — from their meet-
ings with cudgels, their audiences grew larger. Few people in
Germany were at bottom anti-Semitic, but the joy large num-
bers felt in promises of blood-curdling treatment to be meted
out to the helpless minority made them responsive to the sug-
gestion. Smashing windows and street fighting were relied
upon to win the crowd. The propagandists encouraged them
all. ' We shall reach our goal,' declared Goebbels, * when we have
the courage to laugh as we destroy, as we smash, whatever was
sacred to us as tradition, as education, as friendship and as
human affection.' In the Vienna of March, 1938, ordinary
citizens who had hitherto gone about peacefully, confessed to a
strange delight in the sufferings visited upon the Jewish group.
After a while that craving subsides in the great majority, to be
followed by widespread loathing of what is termed 'barbarism.9
The pogrom of 1938, for example, elicited widespread open
criticism. With such lapses of fervor the agents of propaganda
must deal.
234 MEIN KAMPF
the attracting skill of propaganda towards the great masses,
the following rule then results:
It is wrong to wish to give propaganda the versatility
of perhaps scientific teaching.
The great masses9 receptive ability is only very limited,
their understanding is small, but their forgetfulness is
great. As a consequence of these facts, all effective propa-
ganda has to limit itself only to a very few points and to use
them like slogans until even the very last man is able to
imagine what is intended by such a word. As soon as one
sacrifices this basic principle and tries to become versatile,
the effect will fritter away, as the masses are neither able
to digest the material offered nor to retain it. Thus the re-
sult is weakened and finally eliminated.
The greater the line of its representation has to be, the
more correctly from the psychological point of view will
its tactics have to be outlined.
For example, it was completely wrong to ridicule the ad-
versary as was done in Austrian and German propaganda
in comic papers. It was basically wrong for the reason that
when a man met the adversary in reality he was bound to re-
ceive an entirely different impression; something that took
its most terrible revenge; for now the German soldier, under
the direct impression of the resistance of the enemy, felt
himself deceived by those who so far were responsible for
his enlightenment, and instead of strengthening his fight-
ing spirit or even his firmness, quite the contrary occurred.
The man despaired.
Compared with this, the war propaganda of the British
and the Americans was psychologically right. By introduc-
ing the German as a barbarian and a Hun to its own people,
it thus prepared the individual soldier for the terrors of war
and helped guard him against disappointment. The most
terrible weapon which was now being used against him then
appeared to him only as the proof of the enlightenment al-
WAR PROPAGANDA 835
ready bestowed upon him, thus strengthening his belief that
his government's assertions were right, and on the other
hand it increased his fury and hatred against the atrocious
enemy. For the cruel effect of the weapon of his enemy
which he learned to know by his own experience appeared
to him gradually as the proof of the already proclaimed
'Hunnish' brutality of the barbaric enemy, without, how-
ever, making him think for even a moment that his own
weapons could have, perhaps, or even probably, a still more
terrible effect.
Thus the English soldier could not even for a moment
have the impression that his country had taught him the
wrong facts, something which was unfortunately the case
to such an extent with the German soldier that he finally
rejected everything that came from this side as 'swindle*
and 'bunk' (Krampf). All these things were consequences
of the fact that they believed they had a right to assign to
propaganda just any idiot (or even 'otherwise* clever peo-
ple) instead of understanding that sometimes even the
most outstanding judges of the human soul are barely good
enough for this purpose.
Thus the German war propaganda offered an incom-
Allied propaganda as such had no lasting effect upon soldiers
at the Front; and we may be sure that Hitler was thinking
rather of what could be done to keep enthusiasm alive among
civilians. By 1917 French soldiers doubted every word that
their papers printed; and yet those papers were no longer en-
couraging waves of hatred but were stressing lofty ideals such
as religious resignation and the beauty of a difficult task
patiently done. ' I do not believe that the veteran soldier can
thrive on hatred,' said an able writer at the time. And the
greatest triumph British propaganda ever achieved was the
promulgation of what later on became Mr. Wilson's ' Fourteen
Points.'
236 MEIN KAMPF
parable lesson for teaching and instruction for an 'enlight-
enment' that worked in just the reverse direction, in con-
sequence of a complete lack of all psychologically suitable
consideration.
The enemy, however, offered no end of study material
for one who, with open eyes and a feeling that had not yet
become calcified, pondered over the flood wave of the
enemy's propaganda which had stormed upon him during
four and a half years.
But least of all did one understand the very primary con-
dition for all propagandistic activity as a whole: namely,
the subjectively biased attitude of propaganda towards the
questions to be dealt with. In this field one sinned from
above in such a manner, and from the very beginning of the
War, that one was entitled to doubt whether so much non-
sense could actually only be ascribed to stupidity.
What would one say about a poster, for instance, which
was to advertise a new soap, and which nevertheless de-
scribes other soaps as also being 'good'?
At this one would certainly shake one's head.
Exactly the same is the case with political advertising.
Propaganda's task is, for instance, not to evaluate the
various rights, but far more to stress exclusively the one
that is to be represented by it. It has not to search into
truth as far as this is favorable to others, in order to present
it then to the masses with doctrinary honesty, but it has
rather to serve its own truth uninterruptedly.
It was fundamentally wrong to discuss the war guilt
from the point of view that not Germany alone could be
made responsible for the outbreak of this catastrophe, but
it would have been far better to burden the enemy entirely
with this guilt, even if this had not been in accordance
with the real facts, as was indeed the case.
What, now, was the consequence of these half measures?
The great mass of a people is not composed of diplomats
WAR PROPAGANDA 237
or even teachers of political law, nor even of purely reason*
able individuals who are able to pass judgment, but of
human beings who are as undecided as they are inclined to-
wards doubts and uncertainty. As soon as by one's own
propaganda even a glimpse of right on the other side is ad-
mitted, the cause for doubting one's own right is laid. The
masses are not in a position to distinguish where the wrong
of the others ends and their own begins. In this case they
become uncertain and mistrusting, especially if the enemy
does not produce the same nonsense, but, in turn, burdens
their enemy with all and the whole guilt. What is more
easily explained than that finally one's own people believe
more in the enemy's propaganda, which proceeds more
completely and more uniformly, than in one's own? This,
however, may be said most easily of a people which suffers
so severely from the mania of objectivity as the German
people does. For now they will take pains not to do an in-
justice to the enemy, even at the risk of the severest strain
on, or destruction of, his own nation and State.
But the masses do not at all realize that this is not the in-
tention of the responsible authorities.
The people, in an overwhelming majority, are so feminine
in their nature and attitude that their activities and
thoughts are motivated less by sober consideration than by
feeling and sentiment.
This sentiment, however, is not complicated but very
simple and complete. There are not many differentiations,
but rather a positive or a negative; love or hate, right or
wrong, truth or lie; but never half this and half that, or
partially, etc.
The English propaganda understood and considered all
this in the most ingenious manner. There were really no
half measures which perhaps might have given cause for
doubt.
The proof of this brilliant knowledge of the primitiveness
238 MEIN KAMPF
of feeling of the great masses was to be found in the atrocity
propaganda that had been adapted to this, thus ruthlessly
and ingeniously securing moral steadfastness at the front,
even during the greatest defeats, and further in the just as
striking pinning down of the German enemy as the only
party guilty of the War's outbreak; a lie, the unsurpassed,
impudent, and biased stubbornness of which and how it
was brought forth took into account the sentimental and
extreme attitude of this great people and therefore gained
credence.
fBut how effective this kind of propaganda is is shown
most strikingly by the fact that after four years it was not
only able to make the enemy hold his own, but it even be-
gan to eat into our own people.
We must not be surprised, however, that our propaganda
was not rewarded with this success. Its inner ambiguity
included the germ of failure. But finally, in consequence
of its contents, it was hardly probable that it would make
the necessary impression on the masses. Only our brainless
'statesmen' were able to hope that with this stale pacifistic
dishwater one could succeed in arousing men to die volun-
tarily.
Thus this miserable stuff was useless, even harmful.
Nevertheless, all geniality in the makeup of propaganda
will not lead to success unless a fundamental principle is
considered with continually sharp attention : it has to con-
fine itself to little and to repeat this eternally. Here, too,
persistency, as in so many other things in this world, is
the first and the most important condition for success.
In the field of propaganda particularly one must never
be guided by aestheticists or blast persons; not by the first,
because otherwise propaganda's form and expression would
after a short time, instead of being suitable for the masses,
only have an attraction for literary tea parties; but against
the second one ought to guard oneself carefully for the rea-
WAR PROPAGANDA 239
son that their shortage of fresh sentiments of their own is
always looking for new stimulants. These people tire of
everything after a short time; they want a change and they
will never understand or be able to imagine the needs of
their fellow citizens who are not yet so hard-boiled. They
are always the first critics of propaganda, or rather of its
content, which appears to them to be too old, too hack-
neyed, then again too out-of-date, etc. They always want
something new, they look for changes, thus becoming mor-
tal enemies of any effective winning of the masses. For as
soon as the organization and the content of a propaganda
begin to orientate themselves after their needs, it will lose
all complexity and will completely fritter itself away in-
stead.
Now the purpose of propaganda is not continually to
produce interesting changes for a few blast little masters,
but to convince; that means, to convince the masses. The
masses, however, with their inertia, always need a certain
time before they are ready even to notice a thing, and they
will lend their memories only to the thousandfold repetition
of the most simple ideas. <•
A change must never alter the content of what is being
brought forth by propaganda, but in the end it always has
to say the same. Thus the slogan has to be illuminated
from various sides, but the end of every reflection has al-
ways and again to be the slogan itself. Only thus can and
will propaganda have uniform and complete effect.
This great line alone, which one must never leave, brings
the final success to maturity by continually regular and
consistent emphasis. But then one will be able to deter-
This is very true and Hitler has demonstrated it. From 1920
to 1933 he permitted himself few variations. His was always
the same pose, the same gestures (fists clutched and shaken in
front of his face, right arm stretched above his head with the
240 MEIN KAMPF
mine with astonishment to what enormous and hardly un-
derstandable results such perseverance will lead.
All advertising, whether it lies in the field of business or
of politics, will carry success by continuity and regular
uniformity of application.
Here, too, the enemy's war propaganda set a typical ex-
ample. It was limited to a few points of view, calculated
exclusively for the masses, and it was carried out with un-
tiring persistency. Basic ideas and forms of execution
which had once been recognized as being right were em-
ployed throughout the entire War, and never did one make
even the slightest change. At the beginning it was appar-
ently crazy in the impudence of its assertions, later it be-
came disagreeable, and finally it was believed. After four
and a half years a revolution broke out in Germany the
slogan of which came from the enemy's war propaganda.
In England, however, one understood one thing more:
that for this spiritual weapon the possible success lies only
in the mass of its application, but that success amply covers
all expenses.
There, propaganda was considered a weapon of the first
order, whereas with us it was the last bread of the politician
without office, and a pot-boiler for the modest hero.
All in all, its effect was just nil.
index finger pointing toward the heavens), the same theme.
The rhythm of the National-Socialist march is unmistakable;
the conventions which surround official meetings are never
dispensed with. There is always music of an approved military
variety.
The propaganda intended for consumption in foreign coun-
tries has been carefully adjusted to meet the requirements.
Every country has its quota of agents, to whom money, ma-
terials and instructions are freely supplied. Ernst Wilhelro
Bohle, manager of the Foreign Organization
WAR PROPAGANDA 241
isation) of the Party has associated with him the heads of a
number of other groups also working in their way to inter-
nationalize the doctrines of National Socialism. The two most
effective weapons are these: the contention that Hitler is the
bulwark of Western civilization against the revolutionary
machinations of Moscow; and the doctrine that Jewry is the
root of all evil. There are many people in this world who fear
the Bolshevists; there are equally many who can be persuaded
to dislike the Jew. Whenever violent nationalism is in the
ascendancy, as is the case at present, both Jew and believing
Christian necessarily suffer, but the first is at an especial dis-
advantage because he can be stigmatized as a member of an
alien race. Yet there are other things, too, which the propa-
ganda attempts to stress — the debt of civilization to the
'Nordic'; the sins inherent in the democratic system of gov-
ernment; and the blessings of totalitarianism.
Throughout the Balkans, where there are in every country
important Jewish minorities, this propaganda falls on welcome
ears, particularly since a great number of peasants — now
for the most part in economic straits — have long since been
anti-Semitic. In Slovakia and northern Hungary, the disarray
attendant upon the Munich settlement seems to have encour-
aged a kind of belief that Hitler is the Grand Mogul. Roumania,
Jugoslavia, and other States are torn between 'Fascist* and
'anti-Fascist1 propaganda. A particularly interesting example
is Greece, whence young ladies and gentlemen have traveled
to Germany at Nazi expense, then to set their experiences
down in books and brochures. The government of the country
being a dictatorship, there seems to be considerable official
willingness to foster sympathy for Hitler.
In Switzerland a determined government found it necessary
during 1938 to ferret out a whole group of Nazi agents and spies.
Some of these lived in fashionable hotels, adorning their rooms
with photographs of Hitler and Goebbels and dispensing hospi-
tality on a lavish scale. The Swiss government unearthed a
scheme for settling all the German nationals in the Canton of
St. Gallen, dose to the Austrian border. The Basle police ar-
rested a ring of agents who had been active in Alsace-Lorraine
£42 MEIN KAMPF
Holland and Belgium, too, are under considerable Nazi pres-
sure, but in both countries the vigorous stand taken by the
Catholic hierarchy has presented a formidable obstacle. France
has witnessed, primarily as a result of the ' new deal ' sponsored
by L6on Blum, a recrudescence of anti-Semitism, but this has
little to do, in all probability, with Nazi influence. There are
some French propagandists for Nazism, notable Alphonse de
Chateaubriant and Darquier de Pellepoix. Nazi aid was
granted to General Franco in Spain, and as a result a vast
amount of Nazi propaganda is spread throughout insurgent
territory.
The United States has had to deal with Nazi agents on nu-
merous occasions. The Dickstein Committee and the Dies
Committee have heard reams of testimony, usually of a some-
• what confused kind, concerning among other things the
Deutscher Volksbund (German Folk Association) and other or-
ganizations friendly to Hitler. During 1938 a federal grand
jury indicted, tried, and found guilty a number of persons in-
volved in a plot to obtain military secrets. A number of ' Fas-
cist* organizations throughout the country receive literature
directly from German sources, the most important of which are
the Fichtc-Bund and World Service. Naturalized Germans
resident in the country are expected to fill out formulae indi-
cating their ancestry and their present political convictions.
Subtler methods of exercising influence are analyzed in The
German Reich and Americans of German Origin, which lists
many ties binding citizens of this country to the Third Reich.
Cf. also The Nazi International (London, Friends of Europe
Publications, Nr. 69).
CHAPTER VII
THE REVOLUTION
fiN THE year 1915 the enemy's propaganda had started
I on our side ; in 1 9 1 6 it became more and more intensive,
• till finally, at the beginning of the year 1918, it swelled to
a very flood. Now one could recognize the results of this
fishing for souls on all sides. The army gradually learned to
think the way the enemy wished it to.
The German counter-action failed completely.
The army, by virtue of the spirit and will power of its
leader at that time, certainly had the intention and de-
termination to take up the battle in this field also, but it
lacked the instrument which would have been necessary
to do so. From the psychological point of view also it was
wrong that this enlightenment be carried out by the troops
themselves. If it was to be effective, it had to come from
home. Only then could one expect to be successful with
men who, in the end, had performed immortal deeds of
heroism and sacrifice for their home country for almost
four years.
But what did come from home?
Was this failure stupidity or criminal?
In the height of the summer of 1918, after the southern
banks of the Marne had been cleared, the German press,
above all. behaved so miserably and clumsily, nay crim-
244 MEIN KAMPF
inally stupidly, that with my daily growing wrath the ques-
tion arose in my mind whether there was really nobody at
all who would put an end to this waste of the army's spirit-
ual heroism?
What happened in France, when in the year 1914 we
rushed into that country in an unheard-of victorious storm?
What did Italy do in the days of the collapse of its front
on the Isonzo? What again did France do in the spring of
1918 when the stormy assaults of the German divisions
seemed to unhinge its positions and when the far-reaching
arm of the heavy long-distance batteries began to knock at
the doors of Paris?
How had the fever heat of national passion been whipped
into the faces of the hastily retreating regiments! How did
propaganda and ingenious influence work on the masses
in order to hammer the faith in a final victory into the
hearts of the broken fronts !
But what was done on our side?
Nothing, or even worse than that.
At that time I often felt fury and indignation rise in me
whenever we received the latest papers which enabled us
to read of this psychological mass-murder which was being
carried out.
But more than once I was tormented by the thought
that, if Destiny had put me in the place of these incapable
or criminal scamps or incompetents of our propagand a serv-
ice, a different kind of battle would have been announced
to Destiny.
In those months, for the first time, I felt fully the whims
of fortune which kept me at the front in a place where any
lucky move on the part of a negro could shoot me down,
while somewhere else I would have been able to render a
different service to my country.
For I was bold enough to believe even then that I would
have succeeded in thuu
THE REVOLUTION 245
However. I was one without a name, one among eight
millions!
Therefore it was better to keep my mouth shut and to do
my duty as best I could. •«•
In the summer of 191 j the enemy's first leaflets fell into
our hands.
Despite some changes in form, their contents were
nearly always the same, namely: that distress in Germany
was growing more and more; that the duration of the war
would be endless, while the hope of winning it was dwin-
dling gradually; that the people at home were longing for
peace for this reason, but that 'militarism' as well as the
'Kaiser' would not permit this; that the entire world
(which was very well aware of this) therefore did not fight
against the German people, but rather exclusively against
the sole culprit, the Kaiser; that this fight would not end
unless this enemy of peaceful mankind should be eliminated ;
that after the end of the War, the liberal and democratic
nations, however, would accept Germany into the league
of eternal world peace which would be assured from the
hour when ' Prussian ' militarism was destroyed.
For the better illustration of what was thus presented
'letters from home' were not infrequently reprinted, the
contents of which seemed to corroborate these statements.
But in those days one generally merely laughed at these
attempts. The leaflets were read, then passed on to the
rear to the higher army staffs, then they were usually for-
gotten till the wind forwarded a new shipment into the
trenches from above; for it was mostly airplanes which
served for bringing over these leaflets.
In the nature of this propaganda, one point was bound
to attract attention, that is, that in every section of the
trenches where there were Bavarians, it persistently made
246 MEIN KAMPF
front against Prussia by asserting not only that the latter
was the real culprit and solely responsible for the entire
War, but that there was not the slightest hostility against
Bavaria; however, one would not be able to help her as
long as she assisted in serving Prussian militarism, by pull-
ing its chestnuts out of the fire.
As early as the year 1915 this sort of persuasion actually
began to have definite effects. Among the troops the feeling
against Prussia grew quite visibly — but the authorities
did not even once interfere. This was even worse than a sin
of omission, for sooner or later it was bound to take a most
unfortunate revenge, not only on the 'Prussians' but on
the German people, and to this the Bavarians themselves
last but not least belong.
In this direction the hostile propaganda began to show
decided success as early as the year 1916.
In the same way, the lamenting letters from home had
long since begun to have an effect. Now it was no longer
necessary for the enemy to forward these letters to the
front in the form of leaflets, etc. Also nothing was done
against this except for some indescribably stupid 'warn-
ings' from the 'side of the government.' Now, as before,
the front was flooded with this poison, manufactured by
thoughtless women at home, without their guessing, how-
ever, that this was the means to strengthen enormously
the enemy's belief in his victory, thus prolonging and in-
creasing the sufferings of their own people on the battle
front. The German women's silly letters in the time that
followed cost hundreds of thousands of men their lives.
Thus it was already in 1916 that various symptoms be-
came apparent which would better not have been present.
At the front one abused and 'grumbled/ one was already
discontented with many things and sometimes justly so.
While the front suffered hunger and deprivations, while the
families at home were in distress, there was abundance
THE REVOLUTION 247
and revelry in other places. Nay, even on the battle front
itself, not everything was as it should have been in this
respect.
Even then there was a slight crisis; however, these were
still 'domestic' affairs. The same man who at first had
cursed and grumbled, a few minutes later performed si-
lently his duty as though this were a matter of course.
The same company, which at first was discontented, clung
to the section of the trenches it had to protect as though
Germany's destiny depended upon these hundred meters
of mud holes. It was still the front of the old and glorious
army of heroes!
I was to learn the difference between home and the army
in a drastic change.
At the end of September, 1916, my division joined in the
Somme battle. For us this was the first of these enormous
material battles, and it was only too difficult to describe
our impressions. This really seemed to resemble hell rather
than war.
During weeks of a whirlwind of drum fire the German
front stood its ground, pushed back a little at times, then
pushing ahead again, but never retreating.
On October 7, 1916, I was wounded.
I was luckily brought to the rear and was to be sent to
Germany with a transport.
Two years now had passed since I had seen home, an
almost endless time under these circumstances. I was
hardly able to imagine what Germans who were not clad
in uniforms looked like. When I was lying in the field hospi-
tal at Hermies, I almost jumped from the shock when I
suddenly heard the voice of a German woman — she was a
nurse — speak to one of the men lying next to me.
For the first time, a sound like that after two years!
But the nearer the train which was to bring us home ap-
oroached the border, the more restless each one of us be-
248 MEIN KAMPF
came. All the places passed by through which we had
marched two years before as young soldiers: Brussels,
Louvain, Li£ge, and finally we thought that we recognized
the first German house by its high gable and its beautiful
shutters.
The fatherland!
In October, 1914, we burned with wild enthusiasm when
we passed the frontier; now quiet and emotion prevailed.
Each one was happy that Destiny allowed him once more
to see what he had to protect so earnestly with his life;
and each one was almost ashamed to look the other in the
eye.
It was almost on the anniversary of the day of my march-
ing out that I was brought into the hospital at Beelitz near
Berlin.
What a change! From the mud of the Somme battle into
the white beds of this building of marvels! At the begin-
ning one hardly dared to lie down properly. Only slowly
was one able to become accustomed again to this new world.
Unfortunately, this world was new in still another direc-
tion.
The spirit of the army on the front seemed no longer to
be a guest here. I heard here for the first time something
that was still unknown at the front: bragging about one's
own cowardice! For, no matter how much one heard
cursing and 'grousing1 at the front, it was never an invita-
tion to shirk duty or even a glorification of the coward.
No. The coward was still considered a coward, and no
more; and the contempt he met with was still general, ex-
actly as the admiration paid the real hero. But here in the
hospital it was already the reverse: the unprincipled agita-
tors had the word and tried with all the means of their mis-
erable eloquence to picture the idea of the honest soldier as
ridiculous and the coward's lack of character as an exam-
ple to be followed. A few wretched fellows, above all, set
THE REVOLUTION 249
the fashion. One of them bragged about having pulled
his own hand through the barbed-wire fence so that he
could come to the hospital; despite this ridiculous accident,
he seemed to have been here an endless time, just as he had
come in the transport to Germany by swindle. But this
poisonous fellow actually went so far as to describe, with
impudent cheek, his own cowardice as the result of a brav-
ery higher than the heroic death of the honest soldier.
Many listened in silence, others went out, but still others
agreed with him.
1 felt disgust rise in my throat, but the instigator was
quietly tolerated in the hospital. What was to be done?
The authorities must have known, and did know who and
what he was. Yet nothing was done.
When I was able to walk again, I was given permission
to go to Berlin.
It was apparent that distress was very great everywhere.
The city of millions suffered hunger. Discontent was great.
In various homes, however, where soldiers visited, the
feeling was similar to that of the hospital. The general
impression was as though these fellows intentionally sought
out such places in order to air their opinions.
But how much worse were conditions in Munich!
When, after being cured, I was dismissed from the hos-
pital and turned over to the reserve battalion, I thought I
The winter of 1916 was a difficult one in all armies. War
weariness, privation, and dissatisfaction with inevitable gov-
ernmental inefficiency were rife everywhere. What Hitler says
here concerning the feeling in Germany could be matched with
reports from France and England. But in Munich — and in-
deed throughout most of Bavaria — the situation was in a
measure different. Ancient Bavarian particularism now made
a scapegoat of Prussia, attributing to it the militarism that had
plunged the Empire into war. Separatism was openly advo-
250 MEIN KAMPF
hardly recognized the town again. Anger, grumbling, and
cursing met me on all sides. In the reserve battalion the
feeling was beyond all criticism. The clumsy manner in
which the soldiers from the front were treated by the old
instruction officers, who had not been at the front for even
an hour and who, for this reason alone, were able only par-
tially to establish good relations with the old soldiers, con-
tributed to this. The returning soldiers could not help but
show certain peculiarities which were explicable by their
service at the front, but which were and remained entirely
incomprehensible to the leaders of the reserve units, while
the officer who had also been at the front could understand
them. Finally, the latter was respected by the men in quite
a different way from the commanders from the rear. But
quite apart from this, the general mood was more than bad ;
shirking of duty was looked upon almost as a sign of higher
wisdom, but faithful endurance as a sign of inner weakness
and narrow-mindedness. But the offices of the authorities
cated. By 1918, newspapers in northern Bavaria were counsel-
ing sabotage of the War; and in alarm Crown Prince Rupprecht
urged upon the High Command the necessity for making the
speediest possible peace. Hitler's subsequent course was dic-
tated in a measure by these phenomena. After the War
Bavaria was a place of refuge for all nationalist agitators who
were pursued by the Republic, but it was also the custodian of
the monarchical and particularist doctrines. Its government
was motivated by a desire to put Rupprecht on the throne, and
to regulate the affairs of Bavaria more or less independently of
those of Germany as a whole. This could not be Hitler's pur-
pose, since he was a Pan-German. Accordingly he tried to
force the issue and to compel the Bavarian government to
participate in a march on Berlin by staging the putsch of 1923.
In a measure he was abetted by the fact that Rupprecht was
averse to accepting the crown of Bavaria unless monarchical
restoration took place throughout Germany.
THE REVOLUTION 851
were occupied by Jews. Almost every clerk a Jew and every
Jew a clerk. I was amazed by this multitude of fighters of
the Chosen People and could not help comparing them with
the few representatives they had on the front.
In the business world things were even worse. Here the
Jewish people had really become 'indispensable/ fThe
spider began slowly to suck the people's blood out of its
pores. By way of the war societies one had found the instru-
ment with which to put an end, bit by bit, to a national
and free economy.
Now one stressed the necessity of a limitless centraliza-
tion.
As early as in the year 1916-17 almost the entire pro-
duction was indeed under the control of the Jewry of high
finance.
But against whom did the people's hatred direct itself?
At that time I saw with horror a fate approach which,
if it was not warded off in the eleventh hour, was bound to
lead us to destruction.
Jewish citizens of Germany at the time the War broke out
numbered about 550,000. Of these 100,000 were in uniform,
and of these four-fifths saw duty at the front. There were
12,000 casualties, BO that the ratio was virtually the same as
that for the population as a whole; 35,000 Jews were decorated
for bravery; 23,000 were promoted; and 2000 received com-
missions — a remarkable fact seeing that prior to the War the
Prussian army had barred Jewish officers. There were 165 Jew-
ish aviators, a fifth of whom were killed in action. These fig-
ures are based on official German war records. The first asser-
tion that Jews had shirked their duty in war-time was made by
General Ernest von Wrisberg. (Cf. his Erinnerungen.) Jewish
veterans formed an organization of their own. General von
Linsingen, a distinguished commander on the eastern front,
applied for admission to this organization during 1933, on the
ground that he had a Jewish grandmother.
252 MEIN KAMPF
While the Jew robbed the entire nation and pressed it
under his rule, people agitated against the 'Prussians/
Exactly as on the front, at home nothing was done by the
authorities against this poison propaganda. It seemed that
one did not guess that Prussia's breakdown would not
mean the rise for Bavaria, but that, on the contrary, the
downfall of the one was also bound to hurl the other hope-
lessly into the abyss.
At that time I felt infinitely sorry because of this. In
these things I could only see the most ingenious trick of the
Jew to divert general attention from himself and draw it to
others. While now the Bavarian and the Prussian quar-
reled, the Jew pulled away their means of existence from
under the very nose of both ; while abusing the Prussian, the
Jew organized the revolution and smashed Prussia as well
as Bavaria at the same time.
I could not stand this cursed feud between the German
tribes, and I was glad to return to the front for which I
registered immediately after my arrival at Munich.
During the War commerce in produce was regulated by the
government, through the so-called Kriegsgesellschaften. Officials
regulated prices, distributed ration cards, and supervised the
stocks of materials needed for the conduct of the War. During
1914 and 1915, Walther Rathenau was director of the war ma-
terials section of this organization. He was a Jewish industrial-
ist and author of treatises on social problems, who later on
became Foreign Minister in the Wirth Cabinet and whose mur-
der by a band of Rightist assassins in 1922 almost precipitated
another civil war. Doubtless the major reason for the hatred
which nationalists of the kind to whom Hitler appealed felt for
Rathenau was nothing more serious than a remark once ated
from his writings by General Ludendorff. The charge that
Rathenau could have used his office to further Jewish financial
interests is a fabrication.
THE REVOLUTION 253
At the beginning of March, 1917, I was again with my
regiment.
Towards the end of the year 1917 it seemed as though the
depth of the army's despair had passed. After the Russian
breakdown the entire army now breathed new hope and
fresh courage. The conviction that the fight would yet end
with a German victory began to take hold of the troops
more and more. Now one could hear them sing again, and
the croakers became fewer in number. Once more one be-
lieved in the fatherland's future.
Especially the Italian breakdown of the fall of 1917 had
exercised the most wonderful influence; for one saw in this
victory the proof of the possibility that one would be able
to break through the front at a place distant from the Rus-
sian battlefield. Now again a marvelous faith filled the
hearts of the millions and made them look forward to the
spring of 1918 with revived confidence. The enemy, how-
ever, was visibly depressed. In this winter he remained a
little more quiet than at other times. The calm before the
storm had set in.
While now the front undertook the ultimate preparations
for the final termination of the eternal struggle, while end-
less transports of men and material rolled towards the
Western Front and the troops were given their final train-
ing for the great attack, the worst piece of villainy of the
entire War, up to that time, took place in Germany.
Germany was not to be victorious; thus in the last hour,
when victory already threatened to fasten itself to the Ger-
man flags, one had seized means which seemed suitable to
nip in the bud at one blow the German attack of that
spring and to make victory impossible.
The munitions strike was organized.
!f it succeeded, then the German front was bound to
S54 MEIN KAMPF
break down, and the wish of the Vorwaerts, that this victory
was not to entwine itself with the German flags, would be
fulfilled. With the shortage of munitions the front must
necessarily be pierced in the course of a few weeks, the
attack was thus prevented, the Entente was saved, but
international capital was made Germany's master; for this
was the inner aim of the Marxist betrayal of the people.
The smashing of the national economy in favor of the
establishment of the rule of international capital; some-
thing in which these gentlemen now succeeded, thanks to
the stupidity and the credulity of the one and the bottom-
less cowardice of the other. <•
However, the munitions strike had not the ultimately
desired success as far as starving the front of weapons was
concerned; it broke down too early to allow the shortage
of munitions as such to sentence the army to doom, such
as the plan presented itself. But how much more terrible
was the moral damage which now had been done!
First, for what, now, did the army continue to fight, if
home itself no longer wanted victory? For whom the
The Munitions Strike was declared in Berlin and some other
cities during February, 1918. It was an effort to secure amelio-
rations, particularly of the food ration; but it was also used by
some of its sponsors as an act of protest against the continuance
of the War. Leaders of the Socialist Party had entered the
strike committee specifically in order to see to it that the move-
ment did not sponsor sabotage. General Ludendorff placed
Berlin under martial law, mass arrests were made, and large
numbers of workers were sent to the front. This broke the
strike before any military damage was done, but the psycho-
logical effect on the workers was bad. They felt that their just
demands had been answered with nothing but brutal repression.
For their part the generals felt that German morale had been
seriously undermined. (Cf . Die 14 Jahre, by Friedrich Stamp-
fer.)
THE REVOLUTION 255
enormous sacrifices and deprivations? The soldier was to
fight for victory and at home they were striking against it!
But what was, secondly, the effect on the enemy?
In the winter of 1917-18 dark douds rose for the first
time over the horizon of the Allied world. For almost four
years now one had attacked the German giant and could
not bring him to fall; but in addition, it was only the arm
holding the shield which was free to defend himself, while
he had to raise the sword for striking now in the East,
now in the South. Now, at last, the giant was free in the
back. Streams of blood had flown till he succeeded in
finally striking down one of the enemies. Now in the West
the sword was to help the shield, and had the enemy not
succeeded so far in breaking the defense, now he was to be
hit by attack.
Vorwaerts, the Berlin Social Democratic daily, had demanded
a peace of understanding rather than a peace of victory. But
the sentence here quoted from an editorial of October 20, 1918,
is taken out of its context, as will be evident when the passage
as a whole is cited: 'We stand against overwhelming odds. We
will not win this war. We will not fight a moment longer than
we must fight, and we are fighting not for victory but for
peace in which there will not be present the germ of another
war. Germany shall — that is our firm decision as Socialists —
furl its battle flags forever without having brought them home
in victory the last time. That is a heavy moral burden for
every people, and those who wish to make that burden heavier
than it can be borne take a great measure of responsibility upon
themselves. No peace can make us unable to defend ourselves.
Even the victor can obtain security only from a peace that dis-
arms all and makes friends of enemies. But a peace is a danger
for him too, if it be a peace which sends a people home to read
in the bloody history of the past that the vanquished of today
are the victors of tomorrow.' It is, of course, perfectly obvious
that this editorial — written after the armistice parleys had be-
gun — was only a plea for a just treaty of peace.
256 MEIN KAMPF
fOne feared him and one was worried about the victory.
In London and Paris one conference chased the other,
but on the front a sleepy silence prevailed. The gentlemen
had suddenly lost their impudence. Even the hostile propa-
ganda had hard work now; it was no longer so easy to
prove the hopelessness of the German victory.
But this was true also as regards the Allied troops on
the fronts themselves. Now also an uncanny realization
began to dawn gradually upon them. Their inner attitude
towards the German soldier had changed now. Up till now
he might be looked upon as a fool who was nevertheless
destined to doom; now, however, they were confronted by
the conqueror of the Russian ally. The limitations of the
German attacks in the East, born of necessity, now seemed
ingenious tactics. For three years now these Germans had
stormed Russia, at the beginning without even the slight-
est seeming success. One almost laughed at this senseless
enterprise; because, by the overwhelming number of his
men, the Russian giant was finally sure to remain the
victor, Germany, however, would collapse after having
bled herself out. Reality seemed to confirm this hope.
Since September, 1914, when for the first time the end-
less masses of Russian prisoners from the Tannenberg
battle began to roll towards Germany on roads and rail-
ways, this stream hardly ever came to an end; but for
every beaten and destroyed army, a new one arose. In-
exhaustibly the gigantic realm continued to give the Czar
new soldiers and the war new victims. How long would
Germany be able to hold her own in this race? Was not
the day to arrive when, after the last German victory, still
not the last Russian armies would march up for the very
last battle? And what then? In all human probability, a
Russian victory could well be postponed, but it was bound
to come.
Now all these hopes were at an end; the ally who had
THE REVOLUTION 257
laid down the greatest sacrifice in blood on the altar of
common interests was at the end of his strength and was
lying prostrate on the ground before the inexorable aggres-
sor. Fear and horror crept into the hearts of the soldiers
who hitherto had trusted blindly. One feared the coming
spring. For, if so far one had not succeeded in breaking
the German even though he was able to present himself
only in part on the Western Front, how could one still
count on a victory now that the entire power of this un-
canny State of heroes seemed to concentrate itself for an
attack of its own?
The shadows of the South Tyrolean mountains cast
gloom on the imagination : as far as into the fogs of Flanders
the beaten armies of Cadorna conjured up dreary faces,
and the confidence in the victory gave way before the fear
of the coming defeat.
There, when out of the cool nights one thought one
already heard the monotonous rolling of advancing storm
units of the German army, and when one started with
oppressing fear at the coming judgment, suddenly a fierce
red light flashed up in Germany and threw its rays as far
as into the remotest shell hole of the enemy's front ;<•
at the moment when the German divisions received their last
instructions for the great attack, the general strike broke
out in Germany.
At first the world was speechless. But then the hostile
propaganda threw itself with sighs of relief upon this aid
in the eleventh hour. Now at one blow the means was
found with which one was able to raise the sinking confi-
dence of the Allied soldiers, to make the probability of
victory appear realizable again, and to turn the gloomy
This is part of the famous 'stab in the back* theory of why
Germany lost the War. A statement concerning this theory is
appended to this chapter.
S58 MEIN KAMPF
fear of the coming events into determined confidence. Now
the conviction that the decision about the end of this war
would not be due to the daring of the German storm, but
to their endurance in warding it off, could be given to the
regiments, expecting the German attack, on their way to
the greatest battle of all times. One could let the Germans
win as many victories as they might want to; Revolution
awaited its entry into their country and not the victorious
army.
Now British, French, and American papers began to
plant again this belief into the hearts of their readers,
while an infinitely skillful propaganda whipped up the
troops on the front.
'Germany on the eve of Revolution. Victory of the
Allies inevitable/ This was the best medicine in order to
set the wavering poilu or Tommy on his feet once more.
Now rifles and machine guns could be made to fire once
more, and a rushing away in panicky flight was replaced
by hopeful resistance.
This was the result of the munitions strike. It strength-
ened the hostile nation's confidence in victory and elimi-
nated the paralyzing despair of the Allied front. But in
the time that followed, thousands of German soldiers had
to pay for this with their blood. The originators of the
villainous act were the aspirants to the highest State posi-
tions of revolutionary Germany.
On the German side one was at first certainly able appar-
ently to overcome the most visible reaction to this act,
but on the side of the enemy the consequences soon became
apparent. The resistance had lost the aimlessness of any
army that considered everything as lost, and in its stead
appeared the exasperation of a fight for victory.
For in all human probability, victory was now bound to
come if the Western Front resisted the German attack
for only a few months. In the parliaments of the Entente,
THE REVOLUTION 259
however, one recognized the possibilities of the future, and
one granted unheard-of funds for the continuation of the
propaganda for Germany's destruction.
I had the good fortune to be able to join in the first
two attacks and in the last one.
These have become the most enormous impressions of my
life; enormous for the reason that now for the last time,
as in 1914, the fight lost its character of defense and assumed
that of attack. A breath of relief passed along the trenches
and posts of the German army, when finally, after more
than three years of perseverance in the hostile inferno,
the day of revenge approached. Once more the victorious
battalions jubilated, and the last wreaths of immortal
On March 21, 1918, the Germans launched an attack on the
British Fifth Army along the Picardy front. The onslaught waa
heaviest at the point where the English and French forces
joined, and for some days it seemed as if the Fifth Army would
be destroyed. But French reinforcements arrived in time to
stem the tide. In April the Germans struck another blow
farther to the north, and in the battle of Armentiftres imperiled
Calais and other Channel ports. British losses were heavy, but
Ludendorff failed to reach his objective. Thereupon, during
the months of May and June, three attacks were made in the
hope of encircling Paris. The Germans succeeded in crossing
the Marne at Chateau-Thierry, but the Rheims salient held and
therewith the German thrust had failed. On July 18, Marshal
Foch began the series of successful counter-attacks that ended
the War.
There can be no doubt that Ludendorff 's offensives consti-
tute one of the most brilliant and most futile military opera-
tions in history. A magnificent German army, sure that it
could end the conflict and cheered by the elimination of Russia,
struck with a vigor that will forever honor its history. But the
260 MEIN KAMPF
laurel hung themselves on the flags around which victory
waved. Once more the songs of the fatherland roared up
to the sky along the endless marching columns and for
the last time the Lord's grace smiled down on his ungrate-
ful children.
*
In the height of the summer of 1918 oppressive sultriness
hovered over the front. At home one quarreled. What
about? Many stories were told in the various units of the
field army. Now the War was hopeless, and only fools were
still able to believe in victory. The people no longer had
an interest in holding out any further, but only Capital
and the monarchy — this news came from home and was
also discussed on the front.
At first it reacted only very moderately to this. What
had we to do with universal suffrage? Was it perhaps for
this that we had fought for four years? It was a mean act
of banditry to steal in this way the aim of the War from
the heroes dead in their graves. Not with the call, ' Long
live universal suffrage and the secret ballot,' had the young
regiments once marched towards death in Flanders, but
with the cry, 'Deutschland uber dttes inder Welt.' A small
but not quite unimportant difference. But those who called
for the right to vote had for the greater part not been
there where now they wanted to fight for this. The front
did not know the whole pack of political parties. One saw
only a fraction of the 'parliamentarian' gentlemen there
wisdom of LudendorfFs strategy — in these battles von Hin-
denburg was little more than a moral force — has been doubted
by the best German students of military science. He had
staked the future of Germany on a desperate gamble, using all
available man-power and destroying every hope of reaching a
peace by negotiation.
THE REVOLUTION 261
where decent Germans stayed at that time, provided their
limbs were only straight.
The front in its old makeup was therefore only little
susceptible to these new war aims of the Messrs. Ebert,
Scheidemann, Earth, Liebknecht, etc. Also, one did not
at all understand why these shirkers should now suddenly
have the right to assume control of the State by going
over the heads of the army.
My personal attitude towards this was fixed from the
beginning: I whole-heartedly hated the entire Jot of these
wretched party rascals who betrayed the people. Long
since I had clearly seen the fact that this gang were really
not concerned with the welfare of the nation, but rather
with filling their own empty pockets. But that even now
they were ready to sacrifice the entire people to this pur-
Hitler, as Heiden points out in a brilliant passage, is here
describing what may have been the experience which shaped
his own future. He did not question the right fulness of the kind
of leadership then directing the destinies of Germany. The
hard-headed tenacity with which Ludendorff clung to a war of
conquest, the declaration of U-boat warfare in spite of the
United States, the harshness of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk,
the march through Belgium, the sacrifice of all moral prestige
in the world — all these things and more he was wholly willing
to accept because they meant the extension of German power.
But he saw that this military government and the caste which
had supported it had failed to catch the ear of the people. Even
the instruments of propaganda which the nationalists devised
— among them the Vatcrlandspartei (Fatherland Party) and
its orators who accused every moderate German of high treason
— failed abysmally to do the necessary work.
Personal contact with other soldiers had brought Hitler as
little success as had his relations with Viennese workingmen.
The rest avoided him, looked upon his formalistic fidelity to
military routine as 'bootlicking;/ and laughed at his patriotic
262 MEIN KAMPF
pose, and, if necessary, to let Germany go to the dogs,
this, in my eyes, made them ripe for the rope. To consider
their wishes would mean to sacrifice the interests of the
working classes in favor of a number of sluggards; but one
could fulfill them only if one was ready to give up Germany.
These were still the thoughts of by far the majority of
the fighting army. Only the reinforcements coming from
home now rapidly became worse and worse, so that their
arrival did not mean a strengthening, but rather a weaken-
ing, of the fighting forces. The young reinforcements
especially were for the greater part worthless. Often one
could believe only with difficulty that these were supposed
to be the sons of the same nation which once had sent its
youth into the battle of Ypres.
During August and September the symptoms of decay
increased rapidly, although the effects of the enemy at-
tacks could not be compared with the horrors of our
defensive battles of some time ago. Compared with them,
speeches. The reason was, he decided, that these men had been
misled by 'democratic* propaganda. They really believed that
the War was being fought for the sake of the nobles and the
rich. To them electoral reform did mean something, and their
labor organizations were matters of great import to them. No-
body had made them realize that alj^uch things were of minor
consequence compared with the aggrandizement of Germany.
For that aggrandizement would mean the nation's enrichment
and therewith prosperity and prestige.
In Hitler's mind there ripened the decision to supply the
missing contact between Pan-Germanism and democracy. He
would talk to the people in their own language, but he would
persuade them to adopt the Pan-German outlook. Now his ad-
miration for Lueger, and his respect for Allied statesmen like
Wilson and Lloyd George, bred in him the conviction that he
would give Germany the benefit of a similar methodology.
THE REVOLUTION 263
the Somme and Flanders battles were ghastly memories
of the past.
At the end of September my division for the third time
came to those positions we once, as young volunteer regi-
ments, had attacked.
What a memory!
t There, in October and November, 1914, we had received
our baptism of fire. With the love for the fatherland in
our hearts and with songs on our lips, our young regiment
had marched into battle as to a dance. The most valuable
blood gave itself up joyfully in the belief that it would
guard the fatherland's independence and freedom.
In July, 1917, we stepped for the second time on the
soil that was sacred to us. For under it there slumbered
the best comrades, almost children still, who once with
beaming eyes had run into the arms of death for the only
and dear fatherland !
Now we old ones, who once had marched out with the
regiment, stood in reverential emotion on the soil of the
oath for 'loyalty and obedience unto death/
This soil which our regiment had conquered by storm
three years before, it had now to guard in a difficult de-
fensive battle.
With continuous drum fire for three weeks, the British
prepared the great attack of Flanders. There the spirits of
the dead seemed to come to life again ; the regiment clutched
the dirty mud and fastened its grip into the individual
holes and craters and did not give way and did not waver,
and thus, as once before in this place, it became smaller
and thinner in number, till finally on July 31, 1917, the
English attack broke out.
In the first days of August we were relieved.
The regiment had been reduced to a few companies;
these now made their way back, stumbling and encrusted
with mud, more like ghosts than human beings. But apart
264 MEIN KAMPF
from a few hundred meters of shell holes, the English had
only gained death. <<•
Now, in the fall of 1918, we stood for the third time on
the soil of the storms of 1914. Our one-time resting place,
Comines, had now become the battlefield. However, even
though the battlefield was the same, the men had changed;
now one also 'discussed polities' among the troops. The
poison from home, as everywhere else, began to show its
effect here also. The younger reinforcements, however,
failed completely, they came from home.
In the night from October 13 to October 14 the English
began to throw gas on the southern front of Ypres; yellow-
cross gas was being used, the effects of which were unknown
to us so far as personal experience was concerned. I was
to get to know it personally in this very night. On the
eve of October 13, on a hill south of Wervick, we had come
under a drum fire of gas shells, lasting several hours, which
continued more or less violently throughout the entire
night. Towards midnight a part of us passed out, some of
our comrades forever. Towards morning I, too, was seized
with pains which grew worse with every quarter hour, and
at seven o'clock in the morning I stumbled and tottered
rearwards with burning eyes, but taking with me my last
report in the War.
Already a few hours later the eyes had turned into
burning coals; it had become dark around me.
Thus I was brought into the hospital at Pasevalk in
Pomerania and there I was to experience the greatest
villainy of the century.
Something uncertain and disgusting had hovered in the
air for a long time. People told each other that during the
coming weeks it would 'go off,9 but I was not able to
imagine what was to be understood by this. First of all
THE REVOLUTION 265
I thought of a strike, similar to that of spring. Unfavorable
rumors continued to come from the navy which was said
to be in ferment. But also this appeared to me more a
product of the imagination of various fellows than some*
thing that concerned the masses. In the hospital, however,
everybody hoped that the end of the War might come
soon, but nobody counted on an 'immediately.' However,
I was not able to read newspapers.
During November the general tension increased.
There one day suddenly and without warning the disaster
came upon us. Sailors arrived on trucks and called out for
the Revolution; a few Jew boys, however, were the 'leaders'
in the fight that now started also here, the fight for 'free-
dom/ 'beauty/ and 'dignity' of our people's existence.
None of them had been at the front. By way of a so-called
'gonorrhoea-hospital1 these three Orientals had been sent
home from the base behind the front. Now they pulled up
the red rag here.
I had been somewhat better lately. The boring pain in
the sockets of my eyes had diminished; gradually I suc-
ceeded in learning to distinguish my surroundings in rough
outlines; I could hope to regain my eyesight at least enough
that later I would be able to take up some profession ; how-
ever, I could no longer hope that I would ever again be
able to draw; nevertheless I was on the way to improve-
ment when the iponstrous event happened.
My first hope was still that the high treason was nothing
but a more or less local affair. I also tried to convince
some of my comrades to that effect. Especially my Bava-
rian comrades in the hospital were more than receptive to
this. The mood was anything but ' revolutionary.' Further,
I could not imagine that the lunacy would break out in
Munich also. The loyalty towards the honorable House of
Wittelsbach seemed to me to be stronger than the will of
a few Jews. Thus I could but believe that this was only a
266 MEIN KAMPF
putsch on the part of the navy which would be suppressed
in the following days.
The following days came, and with them the most ter-
rible certainty of my life. The rumors became more and
more depressing. What I had taken to be a local affair
was now to be a general revolution. To this was added the
shameful news from the front. One intended to capitulate.
Why was something of that kind really possible?
On November 10 the pastor came into the hospital for a
short address; now we knew everything.
In utmost excitement, I, too, was present during the
short speech: The dignified old gentleman seemed to
tremble very much when he told us that now the House of
Hohenzollern was no longer allowed to wear the German
imperial crown, that the country had now become a 're-
public/ and that now one should ask the Almighty not to
deny His blessings upon this change and not to abandon
our people in the time to come. He certainly could not
help it, but in a few words he had to remember the Royal
House, he wanted to praise its merits in Pomerania, in
Prussia, even in the entire country — and there he began
to weep silently; but in the small hall deepest depression
seized all hearts, and I believe that not one eye was able
to hold back the tears. But then as the old gentleman tried
to continue and began to tell us that now we had to end
the long war, that even our fatherland would now be sub-
mitted to severe oppressions in the future, that now the
War was lost and that we had to surrender to the mercy of
the victors . . , that the armistice should be accepted with
confidence in the generosity of our previous enemies . . .
there I could stand it no more. It was impossible for me
to stay any longer. While everything began to go black
again before my eyes, stumbling, I groped my way back
to the dormitory, threw myself on my cot and buried my
burning head in the covers and pillows.
THb REVOLUTION 267
I had not wept since the day I had stood at the grave
of my mother. Whenever during my youth Fate handled
me roughly, my stubbornness grew; when thereafter, dur-
ing the long years of the War, Death called more than
one of my dear comrades or friends from our ranks, to me
it would have seemed almost a sin to complain. They died
for Germany! And even when, during the last days of the
terrible struggle, the creeping gas attacked me too and
began to eat into my eyes, and when, under the impact
of the shock of fear of becoming blind forever, I was about
to despair for a moment, the voice of Conscience thundered
at me: Miserable wretch, you want to cry while thousands
are a hundred times worse off than you; then I bore my
fate apathetically and silently. But now I could not help
it any longer, only now I saw how completely all personal
grief disappears in the face of the fatherland's disaster.
Now all had been in vain. In vain all the sacrifices and
deprivations, in vain the hunger and thirst of endless
months, in vain the hours during which, gripped by the
fear of death, we nevertheless did our duty, and in vain
the death of two millions who died thereby. Would not
the graves of all the hundreds of thousands open up, the
graves of those who once had marched out with faith in
the fatherland, never to return? Would they not open up
and send the silent heroes, covered with mud and blood,
home as spirits of revenge, to the country that had so
mockingly cheated them of the highest sacrifice which in
this world man is able to bring to his people? Was it for
this that they had died, the soldiers of August and Sep-
tember, 1914, was it for this that the regiments of volun-
teers followed the old comrades in the fall of the same
year? Was it for this that boys of seventeen sank into
Flanders Fields? Was that the meaning of the sacrifice
which the German mother brought to the fatherland when
in those days, with an aching heart, she let her most b*-
268 MEIN KAMPF
loved boys go away, never to aee them again? Was it all
for this that now a handful of miserable criminals was
allowed to lay hands on the fatherland?
Was it for this that the German soldier had persevered
in burning sun and in snowstorms, suffering hunger, thirst,
and cold, tired by sleepless nights and endless marches?
Was it for this that he had lain in the hell of drum fire
and in the fever of gas attacks, without receding, always
his sole duty in mind, to guard the fatherland against the
distress from the enemy?
Truly, these heroes too deserve a memorial :
'Wanderer, ye who come to Germany, announce to the
homeland that we are lying here, loyal to the fatherland
and faithful to duty/
And the homeland?
Was it only our own sacrifice which we had to throw into
the balance? Was the Germany of the past worthless?
Was there not also an obligation towards our own history?
Were we still worthy of applying the fame of the past to us
also? How was this deed to be submitted to the future for
justification?
Wretched and miserable criminals!
The more I tried to clarify this terrible event in that
hour, the stronger burned the shame of indignation and
dishonor on my forehead. What was now all the pain of
my eyes as compared with this misery?
What now followed were terrible days and even worse
nights. Now I knew that everything was lost. Only fools —
or liars and criminals — were able to hope for the mercy
of the enemy. In those nights my hatred arose, the hatred
against the originators of this deed.
In days that followed, I became aware of my own destiny.
Now I had to laugh at the thought of my own future, which
until recently had worried me so much. Was it not ridicu-
lous to wish to build houses on such ground? Finally it
THE REVOLUTION 269
also became clear to me that what happened was only
what I had feared so long, and which my feelings had not
been able to believe.
Kaiser Wilhelm II was the first German Emperor who
extended his hand to the leaders of Marxism without guess-
ing that scoundrels are without honor. While they were
still holding the imperial hand in their own, the other was
feeling for the dagger.
With the Jews there is no bargaining, but only the
hard either — or.
I, however, resolved now to become a politician.
It is important to note that Hitler's hatred was not directed
primarily at the Treaty of Versailles. That was a mere minor
detail — a peace similar to what Germany would have dic-
tated had it been victorious. National life is the expression of
the law of the survival of the fittest; only fools like Kurt Eisner
would have it otherwise. The horrible, the detestable, thing
was that Germany had lost the War. Lost it, so ran the ex-
planation, because of sabotage from within. Therewith the
notion that Germany had been stabbed in the back became of
primary political importance.
Some time after the War, General Sir Neill Malcolm was
dining with Ludendorff in Berlin, listening to Ludendorff main-
tain that he had failed to win the War because of lack of sup-
port from the government. ' Do you mean you were stabbed in
the back?' the Englishman asked. 'Yes,' was the eager reply,
'stabbed in the back!1 This version of the affair was then
offered by von Hindenburg when he appeared before the Com-
mittee of Enquiry which the Reichstag had appointed to find
out why the War was lost. Speaking on November 18, 1919,
the Marshal declared that the Revolution had only been the
Mast straw* in a systematic process of undermining the army
and that it had been — on the testimony of British generals —
'stabbed in the back.' (Cf. The Wooden Titan, by John W.
Wheeler-Bennett.)
The appointment of this committee had been necessitated bv
870 MEIN KAMPF
debates which had deeply stirred the German Constitutional
Assembly at Weimar. Nationalists, led by Karl Helfferich
(war-time Minister of Finance), had denounced Matthias
Erzberger, who signed the armistice, as a traitor to his country.
Erzberger replied in bitter speeches which for the first time tore
the mask from the methods employed by the High Command
during the War. He accused Ludendorff of having undermined
every effort to reach a peace by compromise, and in particulai
of having looked upon the entry of the United States into the
conflict as a mere bagatelle. Had not Helfferich said that Wil-
son was just in time to pay the bills Germany had run up for
military supplies? The effect of Erzberger's speeches was tre-
mendous. Delegates screamed and wept aloud as the fiery or-
ator attacked Pan-Germanism as the cause of national dis-
aster. Thereafter the issue became one of central importance in
the nation's political life.
Immediately a campaign to ruin Erzberger was started by
Helfferich, and as a result he was compelled to retire from
public life. Neither the Centrists nor the Social Democrats
realized at the time how great a blow the Republican cause had
suffered ; and even when Erzberger was assassinated by a group
of fanatics, the import of what had happened was clear only to
a few. Soon the charge that every member of the Republican
government was a 'November criminal* was being made in a
great variety of nationalist journals or pamphlets; and a wave
of political murders swept over the country. The Commission
of Enquiry heard a great deal of testimony, which is enshrined
in many volumes, but reached few conclusions. The prestige
of the generals was still so great that few were in a position to
challenge their authority. Perhaps the major result was that a
vigorous critique of General Ludendorff s military policy in
1918 was read into the record, Professor Hans Delbrueck con-
tending that every canon of the soldier's science had been
violated.
It was proved that when the offensives of that year were
begun, the army had been in excellent condition, and that the
supply of matirid de guerre was more than adequate. But on
August 8 it had suffered a defeat described by Ludendorff as
THE REVOLUTION 271
the 'black day in German history.9 A few days later, the
Kaiser discussed the situation with his generals and concluded :
1 1 see, we must add up accounts. We have arrived at the limit
of our energies. The War must be stopped.' But on August 13
Ludendorff insisted to the Chancellor, Count von Hertling,
that Germany could accept no peace that did not conserve
German rights in Belgium and Poland ; and on the next day, at
a Crown Council in Spa, he stated that the proper moment to
sue for peace would have arrived as soon as he had won another
victory on the western front. By the middle of September,
however, the Austrians were suing for peace and the Mace-
donian front had collapsed. On the 2ist of the same month,
Ludendorff requested the German government to sound out
the United States concerning peace, and followed this seven
days later with a statement to the effect that the German situ-
ation was so desperate that no further delay was possible. The
effect of this precipitate action was that the government, com-
pletely taken by surprise, was half out of its wits; and a new
chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, was appointed. This change
was made in accordance with the belief of the Foreign Office
that only a 'democratic* government could successfully ap-
proach President Wilson. Unfortunately the Social Democrats
now made a serious blunder. They refused to enter a govern-
ment in which the Conservative Party was represented — a
stipulation which was later, of course, to give that party a
chance to throw all blame on the other groups.
While the new chancellor was endeavoring to sound out the
Allies, Ludendorff again intervened to say that at any moment
the enemy might break through and that therefore a request
for an armistice must be despatched immediately. The chan-
cellor insisted that time was needed to negotiate acceptable
terms, again Ludendorff countered, and thereupon the first
armistice note was despatched to Wilson on October 3. Hin-
denburg's letter describing the military situation, dated Sep-
tember 29, attributed the crisis to the breakdown of the Mace-
donian front and the inability to get troop replacements. When
Walter Rathenau suggested, in the Vossische Zeitung, a levie en
masse as the only way out, Ludendorff replied that this would
do more harm than good.
272 MEIN KAMPF
But after an exchange of notes between the State Depart-
ment of the United States and the German government had
shown that the only terms Wilson was willing to grant were
harsh, Ludendorff changed his mind and declared that a levie
m masse might be resorted to, after all. But the government
now felt that the German people would not understand such a
change of face, that a revolution was imminent, and that at-
tempted resistance would only make matters worse. Luden-
dorff handed in his resignation. He was succeeded by General
Wilhelm Gr6ner, who saw at once that further resistance was
out of the question. On November 8, the Kaiser was advised to
abdicate.
It is, therefore, apparent that Ludendorff was sure the War
had been lost before any revolutionary movement had broken
out in Germany. This view is confirmed by all who, on the
Allied side, knew the situation that existed between Septem-
ber 29 and November 8. As a matter of fact, the American
commanders were so certain that a triumphal march on to
Berlin would cost relatively little that some of them accepted
the armistice with bad grace. Marshal Foch has often been
severely criticized (e.g., by General Mordacq) for the 'human-
itarianism' which induced him to end the struggle before the
German border was reached. German deficiencies in supplies,
man-power, and armament were so marked that, despite the
stubbornness with which picked troops defended themselves,
any other outcome than the utter rout of the German army was
unthinkable. In addition the collapse of Austria and the break-
down of Bulgaria opened the way for an advance into southern
Germany.
The major reasons why Germany lost the War are seen as
inherent in the nature of the political action she sponsored.
On this virtually all non-German students are agreed. The
only real military issues are these : whether a different handling
of the battle of the Marne might not have led to the speedy
defeat of France, and whether Ludendorff could have won the
Flanders battles of 1918 if he had taken additional troops out
of Russia. Neither query is answerable. But these facts con-
cerning the political situation are established: the march
THE REVOLUTION 273
through Belgium forced Britain to enter the War; the insistence
upon unrestricted U-boat warfare in 1917 induced the United
States to enter the conflict; and the harsh terms of the Treaty
of Brest-Litovsk may have dissuaded (cf. The Forgotten Peacv,
by John W. Wheeler-Bennett) President Wilson from trying to
reach a peace with Germany on the basis of the 'Fourteen
Points.* One may add a number of minor political misadven-
tures: the fantastically mismanaged attempt to obtain Polish
support by setting up a vassal kingdom of Poland; the murder
of Edith Cavell ; the bombing of London ; the contemptuous at-
titude adopted towards the Austrians; and the strange maneu-
vers of Colonel von Papen in Washington.
Those who deny the validity of these contentions — and
they include all Germans who cherish some fondness for the
Pan-German program — maintain that if so magnificent an
army failed under such leadership to win the War, the reason
can only lie within Germany itself. In essence, the credibility
of such a view must be sought in the realm of idea rather than
in that of fact. The Prussian war machine was created to be
the ideally perfect instrument of national action. If everything
that could render it in practice what it was in theory had been
done, it could not have been defeated. For what is absolutely
right in conception must also be absolutely right in practice. The
realm of the real is only the logical counterpart of the realm
of the ideal. This conception of the army of 1914 is at the back
of many German minds; and a similar attitude of mind is at
the bottom of the doubts entertained by many about the army
of 1938. They would not argue that France has a poorer or
better army than Germany's, but only that the German army
has defects.
Now what was wrong with the German instrument during
the War? The answer is that, as a result of Marxist agitation,
germs of sabotage were introduced into the German system
which developed into veritable cancers; and that, as a conse-
quence of the 'pacifism' which formed part of the normal
bourgeois outlook, large sections of the public were victims of
the dishonest alien propaganda dispensed by President Wilson
ahd others. Evidence to support these contentions was ad-
874 MEIN KAMPF
vanced on three important occasions during the history of the
Weimar Republic; the controversy between Erzberger and
Helfferich during 1919; the Magdeburg Trial of December,
1924, when President Friederich Ebert defended himself against
a reactionary journalist's assertions that he had committed
high treason by helping to organize the Munitions Strike of
1918; and the Munich 'Stab in the Back' Trial, conducted
during October and November, 1925, at which leading Social
Democrats were the plaintiffs.
It is impossible to do more here than summarize very briefly
the facts and surmisals then advanced. The charge against
Erzberger was that by sponsoring the Peace Resolution of 1917,
which disclaimed any desire by Germany to annex territory or
to hold other peoples under economic tutelage, he had under-
mined the belief of the German people in ultimate victory and
therewith weakened their morale. President Ebert was ac-
cused of having sought to end the War by depriving the army
of needed munitions; and his enemies insisted that all along he
and his fellow-Marxists had waited for the chance to spring at
the throat of a fatherland left prostrate before the enemy.
The Munich Trial was far more important because the whole
question of Social Democratic attitudes during and immediately
after the War was threshed out. Sensational testimony was
offered by General Gr6ner and others.
The Erzberger case may be dismissed; for though it was of
great importance to the history of the Weimar Republic, it
offers nothing to substantiate the 'stab in the back' theory.
The Reichstag Resolution failed to affect the conduct of the
War either at home or abroad, and nothing Erzberger did
checked in the least either Ludendorff's dictatorial policy or the
flan of the army. The second and third cases are more perti-
nent. As a matter of fact, the Minority (Independent) So-
cialists did refuse, as the War went on, to vote the necessary
credits to continue the conflict; a few of them maintained rela-
tions with dissatisfied sailors, who then provoked the mutiny
of 1918 which halted the German navy's projected sensational
last-minute attack on the British fleet; and a number were in-
volved both in the Munitions Strike and in the revolutionary
THE REVOLUTION 275
activities which led to open revolt in November. Moreover,
the extreme Spartacist movement, which during the War pub-
lished subversive literature and which afterward led to the
establishment of the Communist Party, was led by former
Socialists among whom Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
were the most important.
It is therefore possible to say that opposition to the War did
exist inside Germany, and that efforts were made to awaken in
the masses a spirit of resistance to the Kaiser and the High
Command. Liebknecht did obtain world-wide prominence for
his pacifistic utterances, which no parliamentarian in any Al-
lied country duplicated. Yet one notes immediately that the
anti-war movement was utterly insignificant until late in 1918,
when the half -starved population lost all hope of victory. The
effects of the blockade were horrible and the physical health as
well as the morale of Germany suffered greatly. When in
history has a people been called upon to shoulder a heavier bur-
den, and when has one responded to the summons with such
astounding patience?
Yet none of the agents of subversive activity helped to form
the government of November, 1918. The men who undertook
that difficult task knew exactly what they were doing. The
Social Democrats had debated a long while before assenting to
a suggestion that came from the High Command and the
Foreign Office. Some of the ablest among them were certain
that to accept responsibility under such circumstances would
later on mean being charged with the defeat and its conse-
quences. Ebert took up the Chancellor's duties on the basis of
a secret understanding with the generals, as Groner explained
at the Munich Trial. Neither he nor his fellows wanted the
Revolution. The Republic was proclaimed, a little hastily, by
Philip Scheidemann in order to forestall Liebknecht's declara-
tion to the same effect. The Minority Socialists were, of course,
far more pacifistic and revolutionary. Yet even the leading
members of this group were stunned by the sudden collapse of
the nation and were not prepared to deal with the situation
thus created.
The most serious blot on the national escutcheon was the
276 MEIN KAMPF
mutiny in Wilhelmshaven on October 30. This was preceded by
scattered instances of insubordination to some of which politi-
cal intent was ascribed. Yet the situation was peculiar.
Peace negotiations were under way; the abdication of the Kai-
ser had been demanded ; and still the men were ordered to get
ready for a sudden sortie which was virtual suicide. Therefore
they had a certain right to assume that their own commanders
were guilty of insubordination, and could justify their conduct
accordingly. At any rate the navy had done its duty for four
years; and to attribute Germany's loss of the War to their
sabotage of a romantic and desperate maneuver is to strain
credulity to the breaking point.
CHAPTER VIII
BEGINNING OF MY
POLITICAL ACTIVITY
AT THE end of November, 1918, I came back to
Munich. I went again to join the reserve battalion
of my regiment which was now in the hands of
'Soldiers' Councils.' The entire business disgusted me to
such a degree that I decided at once to go away again if
possible. Together with my faithful war comrade, Schmiedt
Ernst, I now came to Traunstein and remained there till
the camp was broken up.
In March, 1919, we again returned to Munich.
Hitler, with no home to which to return — he had been out
of touch with his family for years — walked to Munich, and
arrived there shortly after the murder of Kurt Eisner, who had
headed the revolution that had driven the Wittelsbachs from
their thrones and had then — up to the time of his assassina-
tion by Count Arco- Valley — been Prime Minister of Bavaria.
Eisner, a Jew and not a native Bavarian, was an idealist who
had been jailed during the War for writing pacifist tracts. The
account of his reign reads like a fairy tale. Refusing to curb
free speech or to put through any rash socialization measures,
he set about attempting to prove to the Allies that Germany's
workers fully acknowledged the guilt of the former Imperial
government in starting the War and were therefore entitled to
278 MEIN KAMPF
The situation was untenable and urged necessarily
towards a further continuation of the Revolution. Eisner's
death only hastened developments and led finally to the
Soviet dictatorship, or, in other terms, to a temporary
reign of the Jews as it had been originally intended by the
originators of the whole revolution.
In those days endless plans chased each other in my
head. For days I pondered what could be done at all, but
the end of all reflections was always the sober conclusion
a just peace. In addition he proved himself a violent Bavarian
particularist, and gave his government an artistic setting by
staging festivals at which orchestral overtures preceded his
addresses.
The Eisner regime was succeeded by a Socialist government
which in turn was driven out of Munich by a 'Soviet dictator-
ship.9 This did little except watch the various factions which
comprised it fight one another. Just previously Sovietism had
triumphed in Hungary; and not a few intellectuals were now of
the opinion that the Russian idea was about to conquer the
world. Several Moscow agents appeared in Munich, and two
of them were Jewish. In addition a couple of unworldly Jew-
ish poets, Ernst Toller and Gustav Landauer, joined the new
movement. This extraordinary revolution, which the Munich
citizenry welcomed as they would the plague, did irreparable
damage to the cause of labor by murdering ten hostages, mem-
bers of a Rightist secret society. In addition Jewish participa-
tion in it opened the doors to anti-Semitic agitation. Angered
and embittered citizens were now willing to ascribe all evils to
the Hebrew race. Eisner's example had encouraged other
dreamers to think that they, too, could renew the face of the
earth.
Government troops were sent to restore order in Munich.
They were joined by a number of volunteer military organiza-
tions, and on May 2, 1919, took the city after a stiff fight.
Frightful vengeance was taken. Some estimates place the num-
ber of those shot with or without court-martial at more than a
BEGINNING OF MY POLITICAL ACTIVITY 279
that I, as one without name, did not possess even the least
presupposition for any useful activity. I will speak latei
on of the reasons for which even then I could not make up
my mind to join one of the existing parties.
In the course of the Councils' Revolution I acted for the
first time in a manner which invoked the displeasure of
the Central Council. On April 27, 1919, early in the morn-
ing, I was supposed to be arrested; but in facing the rifle
I presented, the three fellows lacked the necessary courage
and marched away in the same manner in which they had
come.
A few days after the liberation of Munich, I was sum-
moned to join a commission for the examination of the
events of the Revolution in the Second Infantry Regiment.
This was my first more or less purely political activity.
thousand. Poor Landauer was among those slain. Therewith
Bavaria became what it had never previously been — the most
reactionary part of Germany. Inside its borders, Rightist
rebels against the Republic, putschists and patriotic assassins
found refuge.
No doubt the major cause of the whole sad affair was the mur-
der of Eisner. He was on his way to the Bavarian Landtag, and
would there have turned over the government to the Majority
Socialists, when he was felled; and some of his followers, not
knowing what forces were responsible, committed other mur-
ders that led to desperate and fateful strife between the factions
which alone could govern. To Count Arco- Valley, whom he
imprisoned in 1933, Hitler owes a debt he can never repay.
The earliest reports concerning Hitler's political activities arc
interesting. He was housed in barracks with a number of ' Red '
soldiers. When the army took the city, these barracks were
seized, Hitler was first called aside, and then every tenth man
was shot. The inference is that he was already in the service
of the army.
880 MEIN KAMPF
A few weeks later I was given orders to take part in a
'course' which was being held for the members of the army.
There the soldier was to receive certain foundations of
civic education. For me the value of the whole performance
lay in the fact that now I was given the possibility of be-
coming acquainted with some comrades who were of the
same conviction and with whom I would then be able to
discuss thoroughly the situation of the moment. All of us
were more or less firmly convinced that Germany could no
longer be saved from the approaching collapse by the
parties of the November crime, the Center Party and
Social Democracy, but that even the so-called 'bourgeois
national' formations would never be able to remedy this
despite their best intentions. Here quite a series of assump-
tions were lacking, without which such a task could not
succeed. The time that followed proved our opinions of
those days to be right.
Thus in our small circle one discussed the formation of
a new party. The basic ideas which we had in mind
thereby were the same which were realized later on by the
'German Workers' Party.' The name of the new move-
ment to be founded was to offer, from the beginning, the
possibility of approaching the great masses; for without
these qualities the whole work seemed senseless and super-
fluous. Therefore we arrived at the name 'Social-Revolu-
tionary' Party; this for the reason that the social ideas of
the new foundation indeed meant a revolution.
He became one of the group of soldiers selected to receive in-
struction in methods of 'political enlightenment.' Such courses
were normal in many parts of Germany during the period of
Reichswehr reorganization. Cf. Gen. L. R. G. Maercker,
Vom Kaiserheer zur Reichswehr (From the Imperial Army to the
Reich Army). Early biographers state that Hitler almost im-
mediately attracted attention.
BEGINNING OF MY POLITICAL ACTIVITY 281
But the deeper cause for this was found in the following:
No matter how much I had occupied myself even previ-
ously with economic problems, this had always remained
more or less within the limits which resulted from consider-
ing social questions in themselves. Only later this frame
expanded in consequence of my examining the German
policy of alliances. The latter was to a great extent the
result of a wrong estimation of economics, as well as
the confusion about the possible bases of a feeding of the
German people in the future. But all these thoughts were
still rooted in the opinion that capital in every case was
only the result of labor and, therefore, like the latter, was
subject to the correction of all those factors which are either
able to stimulate or to hinder human activity. Therein
was supposed to be found also the national importance of
capital, as capital itself in turn was supposed to depend so
entirely upon the greatness of the State's, that is, the
nation's, liberty and power; that this relation alone was
bound to lead to an advancement of the State and the
nation on the part of capital out of the mere urge for self-
preservation or increase. This dependency of capital upon
the independent and free State forces it also in its turn to
stand up for this freedom, power, strength, etc., of the
nation.
Therefore, the State's task towards capital was com-
paratively simple and clear: it had only to take care that
the latter remained the servant of the State and did not
pretend to be the master of the nation. This attitude,
therefore, could confine itself within two borderlines: preser-
vation of a prosperous national and independent economy
on the one hand, securing social rights of workers on the
other.
In previous times I was not yet able to recognize the
difference between this capital as purely the ultimate result
of creative labor as compared with a capital the existence
282 MEIN KAMPF
and nature of which rests exclusively on speculation. For
this I lacked the first stimulation, for it had not come to me.
This now was carried out thoroughly by one of the
various gentlemen, lecturing in the course already men-
tioned : Gottfried Feder.
For the first time in my life I now heard a discussion,
in principle, of the international exchange and loan capital.
Immediately after I had listened to Feder's first lecture,
the idea flashed through my mind that now at last I had
found the way to one of the most essential principles for
the foundation of a new party.
In my eyes, Feder's merit was that he outlined, with
ruthless brutality, the character of the stock exchange and
Gottfried Feder, engineer born in Wtirzburg, was one of
many persons moved by the disarray of post- War national
economy to solve the monetary problem. In the United States
he would doubtless have urged the coinage of silver at a ratio of
32 to I. 'Breaking the slavery of interest is,' he declared, 'the
steel axle round which everything turns.' The meaning is:
instead of taking up loans when it needs money, the govern-
ment should, when undertaking public works, issue treasury
certificates of the same value as the value of the structures
erected. Thus, for example, a gas plant would be worth, say,
$1,000,000. This value the government could then transmute
into certificates. Opponents pointed out that Feder erred in
assuming that money in circulation was covered by real values
inside the country. Feder's most elaborate exposition of the
point, which he maintained was his most original contribution
to Party doctrine, is contained in his Brechung der Zinsknecht-
schaft. Goebbels' verdict on the book is interesting but un-
translatable: 'Brcchcn muss dabei nur dcr, der diesen Unsinn
lesen muss.' Other Nazis also attacked Feder, but the Party
never officially repudiated him. After 1933, however, he was
BEGINNING OF MY POLITICAL ACTIVITY 283
loan capital that was harmful to economy, and that he
exposed the original and eternal presupposition of interest.
His arguments were so correct in all fundamental questions
that those who criticized them from the beginning denied
less the theoretical correctness of the idea but rather the
practical possibility of its execution. But what in the eyes
of the others was a weakness of Feder's arguments was in
my eyes their strength.
fThe task of a program-maker is not to state the various
degrees of a matter's realizability, but to demonstrate the
matter as such ; that means, he has to care less for the way
but more for the goal. Hereby an idea's correctness in
principle is decisive and not the difficulty of its execution.
relegated to a minor r&le. When Hitler began to make impor-
tant friends, his adviser in financial matters became Dr. Paul
Bang, an intimate friend of Dr. Hugenberg's and one of the
directors of the Alldcutschcr Verband. After 1933 Dr. Hjalmar
Schacht was installed as the official wizard, to be replaced in
1938 by Walther Funk.
The best brief commentary on the significance of these mat-
ters for National Socialist propaganda we have seen was writ-
ten by Alfred Braunthal for Die Gcsellschaft, Vol. VII, nr. 12.
(Decomer 1930). 'The National Socialist movement has had
two peaks — the first half of 1924, and the fall of 1930. At both
times there existed a peculiar economic situation. The first
half of 1924 was the time when the stabilization crisis was at
its worst. Interest rates were fantastically high in the money
market. During January the rate was between 90 and 100 per
cent, sinking then in July to "only " 20 per cent. At the same
time, however, the Reichsbank discount rate was only 10 per
cent. Thereupon everything depended upon whether one had
good banking connections and could, by using these, get to the
Reichsbank and its cheap credits. The life and death of an
enterprise was in the hands of the bank.
284 MEIN KAMPF
As soon as the program-maker tries to take into account the
'useful reality* instead of absolute truth, his work will
cease to be a pole star for inquiring mankind, becomes
instead a prescription for everyday life. He who draws up
the program of a movement has to fix its goal, the politician
has to aim towards the fulfillment of the goal. Therefore,
the one's thinking is governed by eternal truth, the other's
activity more by practical reality of the moment. The
greatness of the one is founded in the absolute and abstract
correctness of his idea, that of the other in the right attitude
towards given facts and their useful application, whereby
the aim of the program-maker has to serve as his leading
star. While a politician's plans and acts — that means their
becoming reality — may be looked upon as the touchstone
for his importance, the program-maker's ultimate intention
can never be realized, as the human mind is well able to
grasp facts of truth and to establish crystal-clear goals,
but their complete execution will necessarily fail because
of the general human incompleteness and inadequacy. The
more abstractly right and therefore powerful this idea
may be, the more impossible remains its complete fulfill-
ment as long as it depends on human beings. Therefore
the program-maker's importance must not be measured by
'In 1930 also the interest rates for long-term credits were,
despite the depression, almost as high as they had been during
the boom period (when the rates were unduly high even for
such times). And again the Reichsbank discount rates were
much lower. Therefore the producers of consumers' goods and
the merchants (by reason of their inventories) suffered under
the heaviest interest burden, in relation to the general economic
situation, during 1924 and 1930. The middle classes naturally
felt it most, since its members could less easily find the way to
the sources of credit. For this reason the middle classes turned
with pleasure in such periods to a movement which promised to
"break the slavery of interest." '
BEGINNING OF MY POLITICAL ACTIVITY 285
the fulfillment of his aims, but rather by their correctness
and the influence which they have taken on in the develop-
ment of mankind. If it were different, one could not count
the founders of religions among the greatest men on this
earth, since the fulfillment of their ethical intentions can
never be even a nearly complete one. Even the religion of
love, in its effects, is only a weak reflection of the volition
of its sublime founder; but its importance is to be sought in
the orientation which it tried to give to a cultural, ethical,
and moral development in general.
The extremely great difference in the tasks of the pro-
gram-maker and the politician is also the reason why a
combination of both in one person is almost never to be
found. This may be said especially of the so-called ' success-
ful ' small politicians whose activity is for the most part only
an 'art of the possible9 as Bismarck described, somewhat
modestly, politics in general. The freer such a 'politician*
keeps himself from great ideas, the easier and frequently
also the more visible, yet always faster, will his successes be.
Of course, they are thereby also subject to worldly evanes-
cence and sometimes they do not outlive the death of their
fathers. The work of such politicians is, on the whole, un-
important for posterity, since their successes in the present
are based only on warding off all really great and incisive
problems and ideas, which as such would also have been of
value for coming generations.
The execution of such aims as are of value and importance
for the distant future brings little reward to him who de-
fends them and finds little understanding with the great
masses who, at the first, understand enactments concerning
beer and milk better than farseeing plans for the future, the
execution of which could arrive only later on, but the use-
fulness of which would be of value only to posterity.
Thus, out of a certain vanity which is always a relative
of stupidity, the great mass of all politicians will keep away
286 MEIN KAMPF
from all really difficult plans for the future, in order not to
lose the sympathy of the mob of the present. The success
and the importance of such politicians are to be found,
therefore, exclusively in the present and they do not exist
for posterity. For little minds this is not embarrassing ; they
are content with this.
With the program-maker the situation is different. His
importance lies always almost exclusively in the future, as
not infrequently he is what is described by the words 'se-
cluded from the world.' For, if the politician's art may be
looked upon really as an art of the possible, then the pro-
gram-maker may be counted among those of whom it is
said that the gods like them only if they ask for, and desire,
the impossible. Nearly always he will have to renounce
the recognition of the present, but in turn he will harvest,
provided his ideas are immortal, the fame of posterity.
During long periods of human life it thus may sometime
happen that the politician unites with the program-maker.
But the closer this amalgamation is, the greater are the
obstacles which resist the politician's work. Then he works
no longer for the requirements which are clear to any philis-
tine, but for aims which are understood only by few. There-
fore his life is torn between love and hate. The protest of
the present, which does not understand this man, wrestles
with the acknowledgment of posterity for which, after all,
he works.
For the greater a man's works for the future are, the less
is the present able to understand them, and the more diffi-
cult also is the fight and the more rare the success. But if,
nevertheless, in the course of centuries one man succeeds in
this, then he may perhaps, in his later years, be surrounded
by a faint glimmer of the coming glory. But these great
ones are only the marathon runners of history; the laurel
wreath of the present only just touches the temples of the
dying hero.
BEGINNING OF MY POLITICAL ACTIVITY 28?
But among them must be counted the great fighters in
this world, those who, although not understood by their
time, are nevertheless ready to fight the battle for their ideas
and ideals. They are those who once will be nearest to the
heart of the people; it almost seems as though everyone
would then feel it his duty now to make good in the present
what the past had once sinned against the great. Their
life and work is followed in touchingly grateful admiration,
and especially in gloomy days, it will be able to uplift
broken hearts and despairing souls.
These, however, are not only the really great statesmen,
but also all other great reformers. Side by side with Fred-
erick the Great stands a Martin Luther as well as a Richard
Wagner. <•
When listening to Gottfried Feder's first lecture about the
* Breaking of the Tyranny of Interest,' I knew immediately
that the question involved was a theoretical truth which
would reach enormous importance for the German people's
future. The sharp separation of the stock exchange capital
from the national economy offered the possibility of fighting
the internationalization of German economic life, without
threatening with the fight against capital in general, also
the>l>asis of an independent folk autonomy. Germany's de-
velopment already stood before my eyes too clearly for me
not to know that the hardest battle had to be fought, not
against hostile nations, but rather against international cap-
ital. In Feder's lecture I sensed a powerful slogan for this
coming fight.
But here, too, the later development proved how correct
our feeling of those days was. Today we are no longer
laughed at by the sly-boots of our bourgeois politicians;
today even they, provided they are not conscious liars, see
that the international stock exchange capital was not only
the great instigator of war, but that just now, after the
fight has been ended, it does not refrain from turning peace
into hell.
888 MEIN KAMPF
The fight against international finance and loan capital
has become the most important point in the program of the
German nation's fight for its independence and freedom.
But as regards the objections of the so-called 'practi-
cians/ one can give the following answer: all your fears
about the terrible economic consequences of carrying out
the 'breaking of the tyranny of interest' are superfluous;
because, first of all, the prescriptions you gave the German
people so far have not done it any good at all; your attitude
towards the questions of national autonomy remind us very
much of the reports of similar experts of times past, for
example of the Bavarian Medical Board on occasion of the
question of introducing the railroads; it is well known that
all the fears of this venerable corporation of those days were
never justified; the passengers in the trains of the new
'steam horse' did not become dizzy, the spectators, too,
were not taken ill, and one abandoned the wooden fences
for making the new institution invisible; only the wooden
fence in the head of all the so-called 'experts' was preserved
for posterity.
Secondly, however, one should remember the following:
every and even the best idea becomes a danger as soon as it
pretends to be an end in itself, but in reality only represents
a means to an end; but for myself and all true National
Socialists there is only one doctrine: people and country.
What we have to fight for is the security of the existence and
The meaning of 'international capital' at this time was
'capitalistic England.1 Party philosophers saw in perfidious
Albion a spider in a counting-house. With the help of smaller
Jewish spiders, it had enmeshed Germany in its net and de-
voured it. France was looked upon as a mere tool in the hands
of the London 'City.' Gradually the term took on other mean-
ings: the authors of the Dawes and Young Plans, investors in
German bonds, and great speculators like Ivan Kreuger.
BEGINNING OF MY POLITICAL ACTIVITY 289
the increase of our race and our people, the nourishment of its
children and the preservation of the purity of the blood, the free-
dom and independence of the fatherland in order to enable our
people to mature for the fulfillment of the mission which the
Creator of the universe has allotted also to them.
Every thought and every idea, every doctrine and all
knowledge, have to serve this purpose. From this point of
view everything has to be examined and to be employed or
to be rejected according to its usefulness. Thus no theory
can stiffen into a mortal doctrine, since everything serves
only for life.
Gottfried Feder's conclusions, however, were the cause
which made me occupy myself thoroughly with this domain
which had hitherto been little familiar to me.
Now I began to learn again, and now for the first time I
came to the understanding of the contents and the meaning
of the life-work of the Jew Karl Marx. Only now his ' Cap-
ital f became really comprehensible to me, as well as Social
Democracy's fight against the national economy, the aim of
which is to prepare the ground for its domination of the
truly international finance and stock exchange capital.
But these courses had the greatest effective consequence
in still another direction.
One day I wanted to speak in the discussion. One of the
participants thought it his duty to enter the lists for the
Jews, and he began to defend them in lengthy arguments.
This aroused me to reply. An overwhelming number of the
pupils who were present were of my point of view. The
result was that a few days later I was ordered to report to
one of the erstwhile Munich regiments as a so-called 'in-
struction officer.'
In those days the discipline among the troops was still
rather weak. It suffered from the after-effects of the period
290 MEIN KAMPF
of Soldiers' Councils. Only very slowly and cautiously
could one change over to introducing, instead of the 'volun-
tary' obedience — as one so nicely named the pigsty under
the rule of Kurt Eisner — military discipline and subordi-
nation. In the same way the unit was now to learn to feel
and to think in terms of nation and fatherland. In these
two directions lay the domains of my new activity.
I started full of ambition and love. For thus I was at
once offered the opportunity to speak before a large audi-
ence; and what previously I had always presumed, merely
out of pure feeling without knowing it, occurred now: I
could 'speak.' My voice also had already improved so
much that I could be heard sufficiently at least in the small
squad rooms.
No other task could make me happier than this one,
because now I was able, even before my discharge, to render
useful services to that institution which had been infinitely
near to my heart, the army.
Also, I could speak of some success.
I thus led back many hundreds, probably even thousands,
in the course of my lectures to their people and fatherland.
I 'nationalized' the troops, and in this way I was able also
to help to strengthen the general discipline.
Again I became thereby acquainted with a number of
comrades with the same convictions who later began to
form the basic stock of the new movement.
CHAPTER IX
THE GERMAN WORKERS1 PARTY
ONE day I received orders from my headquarters to
find out what was behind an apparently political
society which, under the name of ' German Workers'
Party,' intended to hold a meeting on one of the following
days, in which also Gottfried Feder was supposed to speak;
I was to go there and to look at the society and to report
upon it.
One could easily understand the curiosity which in those
days the army showed towards political parties. Revolu-
tion had bestowed the right of political activity on the sol-
dier, and now those of them who were least experienced
made ample use of it. Only in the moment when the Center
Party and Social Democracy had to realize, to their regret,
that the soldiers' sympathy began to turn away from the
revolutionary parties towards the national movement and
resurrection, one saw fit to deprive the soldiers again of the
right of franchise and to forbid political activity.
It was, therefore, clear that the Center Party and Marx-
ism took up this measure, for, if one had not undertaken
this curtailment of 'civil rights' (as one called the political
equality of the soldier before the Revolution), there would
have been no revolution a few years later, and therefore
also no further national degradation and dishonor. In
292 MEIN KAMPF
those days the troops were well on the way towards reliev-
ing the nation of its bloodsuckers and the Entente's handy-
men in the interior. That now also the so-called 'national9
parties voted enthusiastically for the correction of the pre-
vious opinions of the November criminals, and thus helped
to render innocuous the instrument of the national rising,
only shows where the purely doctrinary ideas of these most
harmless of the harmless could lead to. The bourgeoisie,
which was really suffering from mental senility, was, in all
sincerity, of the opinion that now the army would again
become what it had been, namely, a stronghold of German
fighting power, while Center and Marxism thought only to
break out its dangerous national poisonous fang, without
which, however, an army will forever remain only 'police/
but will not be a 'troop' able to fight against the foreign
enemy; something that later on was amply proved.
Or did perhaps our ' national politicians ' believe that the
army's development could be other than national? That
really would be just like them. But this is the consequence
of the fact that, instead of being a soldier in the War, one
is a babbler, that means a parliamentarian, and that one
has no idea what goes on in the minds of men who are
reminded by the most glorious past that they were once the
first soldiers of the world.
Thus I decided to go to the abovementioned meeting of
that party which was until then still entirely unknown to
me.
When in the evening I entered the 'Leiber' room which
later on was to become of historical importance for us, of
the former Sterneckerbrau in Munich, I met there about
twenty to twenty-five people, chiefly from among the lower
walks of life.
Feder's lecture was already familiar to me from the
courses, and therefore I could devote myself to looking at
the assembly proper.
THE GERMAN WORKERS' PARTY 293
Its impression on me was neither good nor bad; a new
foundation like so many others. It was the time when every-
one who was dissatisfied with the development things had
taken so far, and who no longer had confidence in the
existing parties, felt called upon to launch a new party.
Thus such societies sprang up everywhere, only to disap-
pear again silently after some time. The founders, in most
cases, had no idea what it means to develop a society into
a party or even into a movement. Thus these foundations
nearly always suffocated in their ridiculous bourgeois at-
mosphere.
After listening for about two hours I did not judge the
4 German Workers' Party ' from any different point of view.
I was glad when Feder finally finished. I had seen enough
and was just about to go when the open discussion, which
In Bavaria after the War strong groups, particularly among
the peasants, came to the conclusion that Germany was ir-
retrievably lost, and that the sole hope was to erect a Bavarian
State, larger, if possible, than the Bavaria of pre-iSyo days. It
was also believed that if such a State were formed, it would be
granted concessions in the matter of reparations. The chief
protagonist of these ideas was Dr. Georg Heim, a Center Party
politician with a great following among the peasants. He
sounded out President Wilson on the probable attitude of the
Allies towards a separate Bavaria, and made a considerable
effort to persuade Austria — the Tyrol in particular — to
join the projected State. Nothing came of it, first of all because
the Crown Prince kept aloof. But the agitation did have one
consequence of fateful import — the separation of the Bavarian
People's Party from the Center Party, and therewith the weak-
ening of the position of Catholics in the Reich as a whole. la
the initial appeal issued by the sundered group, it was pro-
claimed that Germany was only a 'uniting of the German
States on a federal basis,' that any Constitution adopted by the
nation as a whole would need ratification by the separate
294 MEIN KAMPF
was announced at that moment, made me decide to stay
after all. But here also everything seemed to take an unim-
portant course, till suddenly a 'professor' was given the
floor who first expressed doubts of the correctness of Feder's
reasons, and then, after the latter had replied very ably,
planted himself on the ground of ' facts,' not without recom-
mending, however, to the young party to take up the
'severance' of Bavaria from 'Prussia' as an especially im-
portant point of the party program. The man had the
cheek to pretend that, in that case, German Austria espe-
cially would immediately link itself to Bavaria, and that
then the peace would be a far better one, and other similar
nonsense. Thereupon I could not help but announce my
intention to speak, in order to give this learned man my
opinion on this point, with the result that the gentleman
who had just spoken left the scene like a drenched poodle,
even before I had finished.f When I spoke they had listened
with astonished faces, and only when I was about to say
good-night to the assembly, a man came running after me,
introduced himself (I even did not understand his name,
correctly), and handed me a small booklet, obviously a
political pamphlet, with the urgent request that I read
this by all means.
This was very agreeable to me, for now I could hope that
States, and that Bavaria would join the Reich only on the con-
dition that the especial political, cultural, and economic rights
to which it was entitled were respected 'in constitutional law.'
It was a spokesman for this point of view whom Hitler ha-
rangues out of the meeting like a 'drenched poodle.'
Hitler had now proved that he could 'orate* as effectively as
Feder and the other instructors appointed by his military
superiors, one of whom — a Captain Mayr — later on joined
the Social Democratic Party and the military organization (the
Rcichsbanncr) associated with it.
THE GERMAN WORKERS' PARTY 295
perhaps in this way I could become acquainted with this
boring society in an easier manner, without being forced
again to attend such interesting meetings. For the rest,
this man who was apparently a worker, had made a good
impression on me. With this now I went away.
In those days I still lived in the barracks of the Second
Infantry Regiment, in a tiny room which still showed very
clearly the traces of the Revolution. During the day I was
out, mostly with the Rifle Regiment 4, or at meetings or
lectures with some other army unit, etc. Only at night I
slept in my quarters. As I used to wake up in the morning
before five o'clock, I had gotten into the habit of throwing
pieces of bread or hard crusts to the little mice which spent
their time in the small room, and then to watch these droll
little animals romp and scuffle for these few delicacies. I
had already known so much misery during my lifetime that
I was able to imagine only too well the hunger, and there-
fore also the pleasure, of the little things.
On the morning after this meeting, towards five o'clock,
I was lying awake in my cot and looking at this bustle and
activity. Since I could not go to sleep again, I suddenly
thought of the previous evening, and now I remembered the
booklet which the worker had given to me. And so I began
3 The author of this pamphlet was Anton Drexler, a simple and
sickly man who had been declared unfit for military service. A
few copies of the brochure have been preserved. Its principal
argument was that the German worker must turn, if he hoped
for a decent livelihood, from internationalism to nationalism.
If he remained addicted to the first, he would forever be gouged
by a hostile international finance. During the War Drexler had
joined the Vaterlandspartei and so expressed his disapproval
of the Reichstag Peace Resolution of 1917. He called his first
unit * Freier Arbeiterauschuss fuer einen guten Frieden* (Com-
mittee of Free Workers for a Good Peace) ; and after the War he
296 MEIN KAMPF
to read. It was a little pamphlet in which the author, this
particular worker, described how, out of the medley of
Marxist and unionist phrases, he again arrived at thinking
in national terms; this explained the title, 'My Political
Awakening/ Once I had started, I read the entire little
document with interest; for in it an event was reflected
which I had gone through personally in a similar way
twelve years ago. Involuntarily I saw thus my own devel-
opment come to life again before my eyes.-^ In the course
of the day I thought about it several times and was finally
just about to put it away when, less than a week later, to
my astonishment, I received a postcard with the news that
I had been accepted as a member of the ' German Workers'
Party'; I was requested to express my opinion about this,
and for that purpose I was expected to come to a committee
meeting of the party on the following Wednesday.
I was actually more than astonished at this manner of
'winning' members, and I did not know whether to be an-
noyed or to laugh at it. I had no intention of joining a
changed the name to 'Deutsche Arbeiterpartei' (German Work-
ers' Party). A few similar groups sprang up here and there in
Germany, advocating a Socialistic program to be realized out-
side the Marxist sphere because internationalism had failed.
The most famous exponent of this point of view in North Ger-
many was to be August Winnig.
The chairman of the German Workers' Party was Karl
Harrer, a journalist who almost from the beginning took a dis-
like to Hitler. He was opposed to violent anti-Semitism (as
were the majority of Germans in that time), and he was not a
man to wield the bayonet too ferociously. A year went by be-
fore the recalcitrant Harrer could be ousted from his position.
In retrospect the historian must conclude: at that time the
question was not merely whether Hitler would join the Party
but whether the Party would have Hitler.
THE GERMAN WORKERS' PARTY 291
ready-made party, but wished to found a party of my own.
This unreasonable demand was really out of the question
for me.
I was just about to send the gentlemen my written reply,
when curiosity gained the upper hand and I decided to
appear on the day fixed in order to define my reasons orally.
Wednesday arrived. The restaurant in which the said
meeting was to take place was the Alte Rosenbad in the
Herrenstrasse; a very poor restaurant, to which only once
in a blue moon somebody seemed to find his way by mis-
take. This was not surprising in the year 1919, when the
menus of even the larger restaurants were able to attract
customers but very modestly and poorly. But until then
I had not known this inn at all.
I passed through the sparsely lit guestroom where not
a soul was present, looked for the door to the adjoining
room, and then I was face to face with the 'meeting.9 In
the twilight of a half-demolished gas lamp four young
people were sitting at a table, among them also the author
of the little booklet, who immediately greeted me in the
most friendly terms and welcomed me as a new member of
the 'German Workers' Party.'
Now I was somewhat taken aback. As I was informed
that the actual ' Chairman for the organization in the Reich '
was still to come, I intended holding back my explanation.
The latter finally appeared. He was the chairman of the
meeting in the SterneckerbrSu on the occasion of Feder's
lecture.
Meanwhile my curiosity was again aroused and I was full
of expectation for the things to come. Now I finally learned
the names of the various gentlemen. The chairman of the
'organization in the Reich' was a Herr Harrer, that of the
Munich district, Anton Drexler.
Now the minutes of the last session were read, and the
confidence of the assembly was expressed to the secretary t
298 MEIN KAMPF
Next followed the treasury report (there were all in all
7 Marks and 50 Pfennings in the possession of the party),
for which the assurance of the general confidence was ex-
pressed to the treasurer. Now this again was put down in
the minutes. Then followed the First Chairman's reading
of the answers to a letter from Kiel to one from Diisseldorf
and to one from Berlin; everybody agreed to them. Now
the documents received were read : a letter from Berlin, one
from Diisseldorf, and one from Kiel, the arrival of which
seemed to be accepted with great satisfaction. One ex-
plained this growing correspondence as the best and most
visible symptom of the spreading importance of the 'Ger-
man Workers ' Party.' Then a lengthy discussion about the
answers to be made took place.
Terrible, terrible; this was club-making of the worst kind
and manner. And this club I now was to join?
Then the new memberships were discussed, that means,
my being caught.
Now I began to ask questions. Apart from a few leading
principles, nothing existed; no party program, no leaflets,
nothing in print at all, no membership cards, not even a
miserable rubber stamp; only visibly good faith and good
will.
My smile had disappeared again, for what was all this
but the typical symptom of utter helplessness and complete
despair covering all previous parties, their programs, their
intentions and their activities? What made these four
young people come together to an outwardly so ridiculous
activity was actually only the expression of their inner
voice which, emotionally rather than consciously, made all
the previous doings of parties appear as no longer suitable
for a rise of the German nation as well as for the healing of
its internal damages. I quickly read through the leading
principles which were available in a typed copy, and in
them I saw a seeking rather than knowledge. Many tilings
THE GERMAN WORKERS' PARTY 299
*rere dim or uncertain, many things were missing, but
nothing was there which in its turn could not be looked upon
as a symptom of struggling toward realization.
I, too, knew what these people felt; it was the longing for
a new movement which was to be more than a party in the
previous sense of the word.
When I went home to the barracks on that evening, I
had already formed my opinion of this society.
Now I was faced by perhaps the most serious question of
my life: was I to join or was I to refuse?
My reason could only advise me to refuse, but my feeling
would not let me find peace, and the more often I tried to
keep the absurdity of this entire club before my eyes, the
more often did feeling speak in favor of it.
In the days that followed I was restless.
I began to ponder about the pros and cons. I had long
since made up my mind to take up political activity; that
this could be only in a new movement was also clear to me,
so far only the instigation for action had not come. I do
not belong to those who start something one day in order to
end it again the next day or to change over, if possible, to
another affair. But this very conviction was the chief rea-
son, among others, why it was so difficult for me to make up
my mind to found such a movement. I knew that for me
this would mean a decision forever, where there would
never be a 'turn back.' For me it was not a temporary
game, but dead earnest. Even in those days I had always
had an instinctive aversion to people who start something
without, however, also carrying it out; 1 loathed these
jacks-of-all-trades. I considered the activity of these people
worse than doing nothing.
This opinion, however, was one of the chief reasons why
I was not able, like perhaps so many others, to decide to
found something which either was to become everything
or which else, more suitably, should not be carried out
atalL
300 MEIN KAMPF
Now Fate itself seemed to give me a hint. I should never
have joined one of the existing parties, and later on I will
state the reasons for this; for this reason, however, this
ridiculously small foundation with its handful of members
seemed to me to have the advantage that it had not yet
hardened into an 'organization/ but seemed to offer to the
individual the chance for real personal activity. For this
was the advantage which was bound to result: here one
would still be able to work, and the smaller the movement
was, the easier it would be to bring it into the right shape.
Here the contents, the goal, and the way could still be
fixed, something that with the existing great parties was
impossible from the beginning.
The longer I tried to think about it, the more the con-
viction grew in my mind that just here, out of such a small
movement, some day the rise of the nation could be pre-
pared, but never from the political parliamentarian parties
which clung much too much to the old ideas or even shared
the advantages of the new regime. For what was to be
announced now was a new view of life and not a new elec-
tion slogan.
t However, it was an infinitely hard decision to wish to
transform this intention into reality.
What prerequisites did I myself bring to this task?
That I had no means and was poor seemed to me the
most easily endurable, but it was more difficult that I sim-
ply belonged to the great crowd of nameless people, that I
was one among the millions who are allowed to continue to
live by sheer accident, or who are called from life again
without even their surroundings condescending to take
notice of it. To this came the difficulty which was bound
to result from my lack of schools.
The so-called 'intelligentsia9 at any rate looks down with
really infinite condescension on everyone who has not been
pulled through the obligatory schools in order to have the
THE GERMAN WORKERS' PARTY 301
necessary knowledge pumped into his brains. Actually, the
question is never, What can this man do, but what has he
learned? To these 'educated' ones the greatest empty-
head, provided he is only wrapped in a sufficient number of
certificates, is worth more than even the most clever boy
who does not possess these priceless paper bags. I was able
to imagine in what way this 'educated' world would con-
front me, and in that I was wrong only in so far as in those
days I still believed people to be better than they unfor-
tunately are, for the greater part, in sober reality. This, of
course, as everywhere else, lights up the exceptions much
more brightly. Thus I learned to distinguish all the more
between the eternal ' pupils ' and the really competent. •<•
After two days of agonized pondering and reflection I
finally arrived at the decision to take the step.
It was the most decisive decision of my life.
There could not, and must not, be a retreat.
Thus I registered as a member of the German Workers'
Party and received a provisional membership ticket with
the number seven.
CHAPTER X
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE
E depth of the fall of a body is always the measure
for the distance of its momentary situation from the
one it had originally. The same may also be said of
the fall of nations and States. With this, however, a deci-
sive significance must be attributed to the previous situation
or rather height. Only that which usually rises above the
general level can also fall or tumble visibly deep. This
makes the collapse of the Reich so serious and terrible for
every thinking and feeling man, that it brought the fall
from a height hardly still imaginable in the face of the mis-
ery of the present degradation.
Even the very foundation of the Reich seemed to be
gilded by the charm of an event that elated the entire na-
tion. After an incomparably victorious course there arises
finally, as the reward for immortal heroism, a Reich for the
sons and the grandsons. Whether consciously or uncon-
sciously, it makes no difference, all the Germans had the
feeling that this Reich, which did not owe its existence to
the cheating of parliamentary factions, stood out over the
measure of other States solely by the sublime manner of
its foundation; for, not in the cackling of parliamentary
word battles, but under the thundering and roaring of the
Parisian blockade front took place the solemn act of the
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 303
manifestation of the will, that the Germans, lords and
people, were determined to form one realm in the future
and again to elevate the imperial crown as a symbol; not
with assassination had this been carried out, not deserters
and duty-shirkers were the founders of the State of Bis-
marck, but the regiments of the front.
This unique birth and baptism of fire alone wove around
the Reich a glimmer of historic fame, such as was but
rarely the lot of the oldest States.
And what a rise now set in!
The freedom towards the exterior gave the daily bread
to the interior. The nation became rich in numbers and
worldly goods. The honor of the State, however, and with
it that of the entire people, was guarded and protected by
an army which most visibly showed the difference from the
one-time German Union.
So deep is the fall which hits the Reich and the German
people that at first everybody, as if seized with dizziness,
seems to have lost feeling and consciousness; one can
hardly remember the previous height, so dreamlike and
unreal appears, measured by the misery of the present, the
greatness and splendor of that time.
Thus it may also be explained that one is only too
blinded by the sublime, and thereby forgets to look for the
omens of the enormous collapse which certainly must have
somewhere been present.
This may be said, of course, only of those for whom Ger-
many was more than a mere dwelling-place for making and
spending money, as only they are able to experience the
present condition as a breakdown, while to the others it is
the fulfillment of their hitherto unsatisfied wishes, long
desired. ^4-
These omens, however, were visibly present at that time,
though only very few tried to draw a certain lesson from
them.
304 MEIN KAMPF
Today this is more necessary than ever.
Just as one is only able to arrive at the cure of an illness
if the cause of it is known, the same may be said also as
regards curing political evils. Of course, one usually sees
and recognizes the outward form of an illness, the symp-
toms that catch the eye, more easily than its inner cause.
This is also the reason why so many people never go beyond
the discovery of outward symptoms and therefore even
confuse the symptoms with the cause, nay, even preferably
try to deny the presence of such a cause altogether. There-
fore also, most of us primarily see the German collapse only
as a result of the general economic distress and its conse-
quences. Almost everyone, however, has to share in carry-
ing the burden of this distress, so that here is found a cogent
reason for every single individual to understand the catas-
trophe. But the great masses see far less the collapse in the
political, cultural, and ethical-moral direction, etc. Here,
feeling and also reason fail completely with many people.
That this is so with the great masses may be allowable,
but that also in the circles of the intelligentsia the German
collapse is looked upon primarily as an 'economic catas-
trophe,' and that therefore the cure is expected to come
from economy, is one of the reasons why so far recovery has
been impossible. Only if one realizes that here, too, econ-
Criticism of the so-called 'business enterprise State* — i.e.,
the State which looks upon economic enterprise as the chief
source of riches and therefore of well-being — was a favorite
topic of post-War Rightist literature. Oswald Spengler held
that the basis structure of modern society is national and politi-
cal, so that industry depends upon its fundament, the State.
On the other hand, it is independent in the sense that leader-
ship must be developed inside the industry itself. Hence the
necessity for personal leadership and initiative. (Cf . Neubau
dtische
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 305
erniy is only of second or even third importance, but that
political, ethical-moral, as well as factors of blood and race,
are of the first importance, then one will strive at an under-
standing of the causes of the present misfortune, and with
it, one will be able to find means and ways to recovery.
The quest for the causes of the German collapse is there-
fore of decisive importance, above all for a political move-
ment, the very goal of which is to be the conquest of the
defeat.
But also with such research into the past one has to guard
very much against confusing the effects, which more surely
catch the eye, with the less visible causes.
The easiest and therefore also the most widespread ex-
planation of today's misfortune is that the consequences
involved are those of the lost war, and that therefore the
latter is the cause of the present evil.
Now there may be many who will seriously believe this
nonsense, but there are many more out of whose mouths
such an explanation can only be a lie and conscious un-
truth. This may be said of all those who today have their
place at the government's mangers. For, did not once the
very announcers of the Revolution most urgently point
out, again and again to the people, that for the great masses
it would make no difference whatsoever how this war
Oddly enough this is virtually the same reasoning to which
the Majority Socialists resorted during the War in order to at-
tack Minority Socialists who maintained that the worker had
no interest in the struggle, and that therefore his party was not
justified in supporting the government either by voting credits
or by rendering patriotic service. Scheidemann, David, and
Ebert maintained that if Germany did not defend herself to
the utmost of her ability, German industry would lose its
markets and therewith its ability to pay wages. But they all
repudiated ware of conquest.
106 MEIN KAMPF
would end? Have they not, on the contrary, asserted most
seriously that at the utmost only the ' great capitalist9
could have any interest in the victorious end of this colossal
wrestling of nations, but never the German people itself, or
even the German worker? Indeed, on the contrary, did not
these apostles of world reconciliation assert 'militarism'
could only be destroyed by the German defeat, but that the
German people would celebrate its most glorious resur-
rection? Did one not praise in these circles the benevo-
lence of the Entente, and did one not charge Germany with
the entire guilt of bloody struggle? But would one have
been able to do so without the explanation that even defeat
would have no special consequences for the nation? Was
not the entire Revolution trimmed with the phrase that
through it the victory of the German flag would be pre-
vented, and that thereby the German people would face all
the more its inner and outer freedom?
Was this perhaps not so, you miserable and lying fel-
lows?
It really takes a truly Jewish impudence to attribute the
cause of the collapse to the military defeat, while the cen-
tral organ of all traitors of nations, the Vorwaerts of Berlin,
wrote nevertheless that this time the German people would
not be allowed to bring its flags home with victory!
And this is now supposed to be the cause of our collapse?
It would naturally be quite useless to quarrel with such
forgetful liars, and therefore I would also not waste one
word about it, if unfortunately this nonsense were not
repeated parrot-like by so many entirely thoughtless
people, without that maliciousness or conscious untruth-
fulness that would give the cause for this. But, further-
more, these explanations are intended to be helpful to our
fighters for enlightenment, which is very necessary anyhow
in a time when the spoken word is usually twisted in one's
very mouth.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 307
Thus in reply to the statement that the lost war is guilty
of the German collapse, the following is to be said :
The loss of the War was certainly of terrible importance
to the future of our fatherland, but this loss is not a cause,
but, in turn, again only a consequence of other causes. That
an unfortunate end of this fight for life and death was
bound to lead to very disastrous consequences was cer-
tainly entirely clear to every sensible and not malicious
person, but unfortunately there were also those whose
intelligence seemed to be lacking at the right time, or who,
contrary to their better knowledge, nevertheless first dis-
puted and denied this truth; these were for the greater part
those who, after the realization of their secret wish, now
suddenly receive the belated realization of the catastrophe
which they helped to bring about. They, therefore, are the
culprits of the collapse, and not the lost war, as it now
This passage is first of all a defense of General Ludendorfl
and of the dictatorship he exercised during the War. The
argument is characteristic. Unfortunately the Pan-German
element had to concede that the sacrifices of four years had
been in vain ; and it determined now to fight down the popular
feeling that war itself, as an instrument of national policy, had
been repudiated. Therefore the argument that peace is the
most effective solvent of national greatness re-appears in a
thousand forms. Nevertheless relatively few Nazis have ven-
tured to assert that war itself is good. Normally they shrink a
little from drawing all the conclusions latent in Spengler's
phrase, ' Man is a beast of prey.' What they generally advo-
cate is an army ideally perfect, so that Germany may impose
its peace upon the world without the shedding of blood. For as
Houston Stewart Chamberlain said during the War, only the
German word for peace — Friede — expresses what the world
needs, a Masting realm of love and tenderness' (a kind of ex-
tension of the last act of Tristan und Isolde). The French word
— Paix — stands for nothing except a pact, a treaty. Hitler
308 MEIN KAMPF
pleases them to say and to believe. For the loss of the Wai
was only the consequence of their activity, and not, as they
now assert, the result of 'bad' leadership. The enemy, too,
did not consist of cowards; he, too, knew how to die; his
number was, for the first day, greater than that of the Ger-
man army, his technical armament had the arsenals of the
whole world at his disposal; thus the fact that the German
victories which were gained by fighting against a whole
world during four years were due, with all heroic courage
and all 'organization/ only to superior leadership, cannot
be denied in the face of reality. The organization and the
leadership of the German army were the most colossal
affair which the earth has ever seen so far. Its deficiencies
were within the bounds of general human imperfection as a
whole.
That this army broke down was not the cause of our pre-
sent misfortune, but only the consequence of other crimes, a
consequence which in its turn, however, introduced the
beginning of a further and this time more conspicuous col-
lapse.
That this is the case may be derived from the following:
When, then, is a military defeat bound to lead to such a
complete breakdown of a nation and a State? Since when
is this the result of an unlucky war? Do nations perish at
all by a lost war as such?
in office is fond of demanding that every German must be-
come, physically and mentally, an instrument of the High
Command, and of the turning the next minute to a proclama-
tion of his ardent desire for peace. One may, perhaps, put the
matter in a nutshell by saying: for Mr. Neville Chamberlain
1 peace' is something that will permit the British investor to
keep on excelling at the hunt; for Mr. Hitler it is something
that results from the scare that follows a mobilization of the
German army.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 309
The answer to this can be very short: Whenever nations
receive in their military defeat the return for their inner
corruption, cowardice, and lack of character, in short, for
their unworthiness. If this is not the case, then the military
defeat will become the impulse for a coming greater rise
rather than the tombstone of a nation's existence.
History offers no end of examples for the correctness of
this assertion.
Unfortunately, the military defeat of the German people
is not an undeserved catastrophe, but rather a deserved
punishment by eternal retribution. We more than de-
served this defeat. It is only the greatest outward symp-
tom of decay among quite a series of internal ones which
perhaps would have remained hidden to the eye of most
people, or which perhaps one, in ostrich-like manner, did
not want to see.
One should only look at the accompanying symptoms
with which the German people accepted this defeat. Had
one not in many circles actually expressed joy at the mis-
fortune of the fatherland in the most shameless way? But
who does this if he does not really deserve such punish-
ment? Indeed, did one not even go farther and boast of
finally having caused the front to retreat? And it was not
the enemy who did this, no, no, it was Germans who piled
such disgrace upon their heads! Did misfortune perhaps
hit them unjustly? Since when, however, does one step
forward in order to attribute the war guilt to oneself? And
this, despite realization and knowledge to the contrary!
No, and again no: in the way and in the manner in which
the German people accepted its defeat one is able to recog-
nize most clearly that the true cause of our collapse is to be
found in a place quite apart from the purely military loss
of some positions or in the failure of an offensive; for if the
front as such had really failed and if, by its misfortune, the
doom of the fatherland had been caused, the German
310 MEIN KAMPF
people would have accepted defeat in quite a different way.
Then, with clenched teeth, one would have endured the
misfortune that now followed, or one would have lamented
it, overcome by pain; then wrath and fury against the en-
emy who had become victorious by the cunning of chance
or by the will of Destiny would have filled the hearts; then,
like to the Roman Senate, the nation would have stepped
up to the defeated divisions with the fatherland's thanks
for the sacrifices made so far, and with the request not to
despair of the Reich. Even the capitulation would have
been signed only by force of reason, while the heart would
have already beaten in expectation of the coming rise.
After the War a strange frenzy of jubilation was indulged in
by various groups of Germans. There was dancing all night
in the streets of villages and towns; delirious welcomes to
homecoming sweethearts shocked the sedate. The German
government sent emissaries to welcome troops returning to
Berlin and to invite their support in putting the new govern-
ment on a firm basis; but few consented to stay, and those who
did were normally soon out of control. Soldiers who took up
quarters in the Berlin Schloss at Liebknecht's behest re-
emerged decked in the ex-Kaiser's uniforms, their pockets
stuffed with silver from the Imperial cupboards. Most striking
detail of all, Berlin was on Christmas Eve, 1918, perilously
close to the brink of revolution. The government had no
armed forces on which it could rely; the revolutionaries had
amassed considerable strength. But as if at a prearranged
signal, everybody went off to celebrate and the crisis was over.
One of the most serious charges brought against Erzberger
was that he had written an old Suabian toast in a tavern book
at Weimar. All this was, of course, the result of the attack of
giddiness which followed a sudden release from four years of
pressure such as no other people had ever been called upon to
bear. For years nationalists referred to these things as indi-
cations of the base Qualities that were hidden in the German
peyche
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 311
In such a manner one would have accepted a defeat
which would have been due to Fate alone. Then one would
not have laughed and danced, then one would not have
boasted of one's cowardice, and one would not have glori-
fied the defeat; one would not have jeered at the fighting
troops and one would not have torn its flag and cockade
down into the dirt, but above all : then it would never have
come to that terrible condition which caused an English
officer, Colonel Repington, to utter the contemptuous re-
mark: 'Among the Germans every third man is a traitor.'
No, this pestilence would never have been able to swell up
to such a suffocating flood which now for five years has
drowned even the last remainder of respect on the part of
the rest of the world.
From this can best be seen the lie contained in the asser-
The spectacle of Germany in defeat was in some respects
undignified. Neither, for that matter, was the spectacle of
Allied countries reveling in victory a highly edifying one. On
both sides orgies of lust and madness, for which Europe could
hardly parallel in history, marked the end of the conflict. In
Germany, American and British observers saw passers-by —
young loafers and deserters for the most part — beset officers,
tear the insignia from their shoulders, and bash their sabres
against the pavement. One such observer wrote in his diary
at the time: 'There will be a reaction against these things^and
it will not be pleasant to contemplate.' Yet such phenomena
did not illustrate the sentiment of either the people or the
army as a whole. In November, 1918, a battalion of veterans,
covered with gray mud, starved to the bone, marched home-
ward through the streets of Mtinster. On they came with firm
tread, rifles slung on their shoulders, looking for all the world
like a procession of wraiths arisen from the battlefields of the
Marne. The thousands gathered along the streets stood in
awe-struck silence, until finally a universal sob that shook the
crowd seemed to come from every throat. In a small Moselle
312 MEIN KAMPF
tkm that the lost war was the cause of the German col*
lapse. No, the military collapse was in its turn only the
consequence of quite a series of the symptoms of an illness
and their causes, which had visited the German nation even
in time of peace. It was this the first catastrophic conse-
quence of moral poisoning, visible to all, the consequence
of a decrease in the instinct of self-preservation and of the
conditions for it, which had already begun to undermine
the foundations of the people and the Reich many years
ago.
But it took the entire bottomless lying of Jewry and its
Marxist fighting organization to burden with the guilt of
the collapse just that man, the only one who tried, with
superhuman will power and energy, to prevent the catas-
trophe he saw approaching and to spare the nation the time
of the deepest degradation and dishonor. By stamping
village, officers of the Fourth Army Corps, A.E.F., attended a
Christmas midnight Mass, in 1918. Widows in black ushered
their little children, dressed in white, into the church from out
of the snow-filled night; and not one of them stood dry-eyed
as the music of ancient carols eddied round the tombs of village
warriors dead a thousand years ago. No, it is historically un-
just to cast aspersions on the German people. They were
utterly stunned by the suddenness of their defeat, for which
nothing had prepared them. And they were left to carve out
their own destiny by officers who, after years of dictatorship,
wished now to get the ruins off their hands.
The most effective critics of Ludendorff were not 'Jewish
writers' or 'Marxist journals,9 but gentlemen of the Right
Virtually no one in the Foreign Office at the end of the con-
flict entertained any doubt that the General had ruined Ger-
many, and the memoirs of Bernstorff, Solf, Ktthlmann, and
others bear witness to this fact Nor has military criticism
been less outspoken.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 313
Ludendorff aa the culprit of the loss of the World War, one
took away from the hand of the only dangerous accuser,
who was able to stand up against the traitors to the father-
land, the weapon of moral right. Therewith one started
out with the very correct assumption that in the size of the
lie there is always contained a certain factor of credibility,
since the great masses of a people may be more corrupt in
the bottom of their hearts than they will be consciously and
intentionally bad, therefore with the primitive simplicity
of their minds they will more easily fall victims to a great
lie than to a small one, since they themselves perhaps also
lie sometimes in little things, but would certainly still be
too much ashamed of too great lies. Thus such an untruth
will not at all enter their heads, and therefore they will be
unable to believe in the possibility of the enormous impu-
dence of the most infamous distortion in others; indeed,
they may doubt and hesitate even when being enlightened,
and they accept any cause at least as nevertheless being
true; therefore, just for this reason some part of the most
impudent lie will remain and stick; a fact which all great
lying artists and societies of this world know only too well
and therefore also villainously employ.
Those who know best this truth about the possibilities
of the application of untruth and defamation, however,
were at all times the Jews; for their entire existence is built
on one single great lie, namely, that here one had to deal
with a religious brotherhood, while in fact one has to do
with a race — what a race! As such they have been nailed
down forever, in an eternally correct sentence of funda-
mental truth, by one of the greatest minds of mankind; he
called them 'the great masters of lying.' He who does not
realize this or does not want to believe this will never be
able to help truth to victory in this world.
314 MEIN KAMPF
For the sake of the German people one has to consider
it almost a piece of good fortune that the time of its latent
illness was not suddenly cut short by such a terrible catas-
trophe, because otherwise the nation would probably have
perished more slowly, but nevertheless all the more cer-
tainly. The illness would then have become a chronic dis-
ease, whereas now in the acute form of the collapse it be-
came clearly and distinctly visible at least in the eyes of a
larger crowd. It was not by accident that man became
master of the plague more easily than of tuberculosis. The
one comes in terrible death waves, scourging mankind, the
other sneaks in slowly; the one leads to terrible fear, the
other to gradual indifference. But the consequence was
that man opposed the one with the whole ruthlessness of
his energy, while he tries to check consumption with weak
means. Thus he mastered the plague, while he in turn is
mastered by tuberculosis.
Exactly the same is also the case with diseases of national
bodies. If they do not appear in the form of a catastrophe,
man begins gradually to get used to them and finally he will
perish by them, though only after a long time, but never-
theless more certainly. Then it is a good fortune (however
bitter) if Destiny decides to intervene in this slow process
of putrid corruption and, at one blow, to put before the eyes
of him who is stricken the end of the disease. For this is
what such a catastrophe amounts to more than once. Then
it may easily become the cause of a recovery which sets in
with utmost determination.
But also in such a case the prerequisite is again the real-
ization of the inner reasons which cause the disease in
question.
What is most important also here is the distinction be-
tween the causes and the conditions they bring about.
This will be the more difficult the longer the contagious
matter has been in the nation's body and the more it had
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 315
already become a natural part and parcel of that body.
For it may very easily happen that after a certain time one
no longer considers an absolutely noxious poison as 'alien'
as such, but that one looks upon it as consistent with one's
nationality or tolerates it, at the utmost, as a necessary
evil, so that one no longer considers imperative the search
for the cause of the morbific agent.
During the long pre-War years of peace certain patho-
logic features had certainly appeared and been recognized
as such, whereas, apart from a few exceptions, one did not
at all take the morbific agent into account. It might be said
that here again it was most of all the symptoms of eco-
nomic life which became conscious to the individual more
than perhaps the injurious consequences in quite a series
of other domains.
There were many signs of decay which ought to have
stimulated serious reflection.
In this respect, from the purely economic point of view,
the following may be said :
By the rapid increase of the German people's number
before the War, the question of supplying the daily bread
stepped into the foreground of all political and economic
thought and activity in a more and more acute manner.
Unfortunately, one could not make up one's mind to arrive
at the only correct solution, but believed that one could
reach the goal in a cheaper way. As soon as one renounced
gaining new territory and, instead, entangled oneself in the
delusion of a world-wide economic conquest, the end was
bound to lead to an industrialization that was as limitless as
it was detrimental.
The first consequence of gravest importance was the
weakening of the peasant class. In the same measure in
which the latter class diminished, the mass of the prole-,
316 MEIN KAMPF
tariat of the great cities grew more and more, till finally the
balance was lost entirely.
Now the sharp contrast between poor and rich became
really apparent. Superabundance and misery now lived so
dose together that the consequences of this could be and
were bound to be necessarily very dreary. Distress and
frequent unemployment began to play their game with
people and left discontent and embitterment as a memory
behind them. The consequence of this seemed to be the
political class split. Thus, with all economic prosperity,
discontent nevertheless became greater and deeper, and
it even went so far that the conviction, 'it can no longer go
on like this,' became a general one, without people forming
or being able to form a definite idea of what should perhaps
have come.
These were the typical symptoms of a deep discontent
which tried to express itself in such a manner.
But worse than this were other consequential symptoms
Which the economization of the nation brought with it.
In the measure in which business rose to become the de*
termining master of the State, money became the god whom
now everybody had to serve and to worship. Now the
celestial gods were put more and more into a corner as
outmoded and old-fashioned, and instead of to them, in-
cense was offered to the idol of mammon. A truly evil
degeneration thus set in, especially evil for the reason that
this took place at a time when the nation, more than ever,
would probably need the highest heroic conviction at a
threatening critical hour; Germany had to be prepared with
the help of the sword to stand up some day for her attempt
to secure her daily bread by way of a 'peaceful economic
work.'
Unfortunately, the domination of money was sanctioned
also by that authority which should have resisted it most
of all: His Majesty the Kaiser acted unluckily when he
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 317
drew the aristocracy particularly into the orbit of the new
fiscal capital. Here, of course, one has to admit to his
credit that in this respect unfortunately even Bismarck did
not recognize the impending danger. With this, however,
the ideal virtues had practically stepped back behind the
value of money, for it was obvious that once one had
started out on such a way, the nobility of the sword would
very shortly have to take its place behind the aristocracy
Attacks on the German nobility were to remain character-
istic of National Socialism. Among nationalists, the princes
were reproached for their poor war record. More generally,
feeling waxed strong against the caste on social and economic
grounds. Even the Center Party struck noblemen off its list
of candidates — a revolutionary action of which it was to re-
pent later. The question concerning what disposition was to
be made of the fortunes of the princes rocked German politics
for years, leading eventually to a referendum which cut across
all party alignments. Hitler's criticism seems to have been
based primarily on intermarriages between the scions of noble
houses and Jewish maidens. Such alliances were, as a matter
of fact, common, many dating back to Napoleonic times.
Anyone who takes the trouble to study the dedications of
memoirs that appeared after the middle of the nineteenth
century will find that in a great many instances this rule ap-
plies: the nobler the author, the more certain he is to boast a
Jewish grandmother. The late eighteenth century — period of
Lessing's Nathan der Wcisc — was characterized by the
homage paid to brilliant and beautiful Jewish women. Some
of the marriages were, of course, based on money, but it must
be added that the Jews brought from Vienna and Frankfort a
culture superior to any that then existed in northeast Germany.
The most voluminous Nazi critic of the German nobility is,
however, R. Walther Darrfe, Hitler's Minister of Agriculture.
Born in the Argentine and said to have specialized in veterinary
science, Darr6 is above all the author of Neuadel aus Blut und
Boden. He summarizes the faults of the princes as these have
318 MEIN KAMPF
of finance. Financial operations succeed more easily thtin
battles. Also, it was no longer inviting now for the real
hero or statesman to be brought into contact with the next-
best Jew banker, so that the really meritorious man could
no longer have an interest in the bestowal of such cheap
decorations, but refused them with thanks as far as he was
concerned. This development was profoundly saddening
also from the point of view of blood ; the nobility lost more
long since been chalked up by Lagarde, Langbehn, Treitschke,
and others. Then he attributes most of the blame to Charle-
magne, who because the fact that he favored Roman law and
custom proved that he 'no longer possessed a sense of the im-
portance of the German nobility, by reason of the fact that he
was deficient in the heritage of German blood,1 The battle of
Verden (782) was, he thinks, the deciding point. For there
Charlemagne defeated the * Saxon nobles.' From that time
on, 'a Christian nobility is dominant in Germany, formed for
the most part of Prankish noblemen-officials, whose blood was
of dubious purity in the Germanic sense, though in the course
of time . . . this was replaced by or improved by better blood.
But this history of the development of the German Christian
nobility out of the Prankish noblemen-official caste is very
basically the cause why, in contradistinction to the heathen
Germanic nobility, it no longer acts as a leadership embedded
in the people, but as a caste set apart by itself above the
German people — a caste which was dissolved only after the
Crusades.' (Dane's diction and syntax retain certain veter-
inarian characteristics.)
How, then, is the situation to be remedied? In the Vdlkischer
Bcobachter (1923) Darr£ proposed the establishment of Zucht-
ivarten — that is, offices for breeding control — whose duty it
would be to keep records of German breeding. German girls
were to be divided into four classes: the ten per cent shown by
inspectors to have the best German blood were to be set apart
as the group from which the 'new German nobility* might
freely choose ; the rest of those girls against whose blood streams
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 319
and more the racial presumption for its existence. For a
greater part the designation 'non-nobility* would have
been far more suitable.
A symptom of serious economic decay was the slow ex-
tinction of the personal right of possession and the gradual
handing-over of the entire economy into the possession of stock-
holders' companies.
Only with this had labor truly sunk to the level of an
object of speculation of unscrupulous hagglers; but the
nothing important could be said were also to be within the
'new nobleman's' purview, provided he could obtain the
Zuchtwarfs permission to wed with one of them; the group
against which pertinent criticism could be advanced were to
be free to marry, provided they were sterilized in advance;
and those unfortunates whose blood proved to be beneath
contempt were to be held away from the altar under all cir-
cumstances. To these ideas Darr6 has often returned, particu-
larly in the famous seventh chapter of Neuadel aus Blut und
Boden, in which he attempts to apply the laws of breeding to
the German people. Here also is the often quoted passage in
which he maintains that an illegitimate child of 'good blood'
is to be ranked higher than a legitimate child of 'bad blood.'
The distinction is of importance, since girls of 'bad blood' are
no longer permitted to marry peasants whom the law permits
to inherit land.
How much of this theory has been put into practice cannot
be determined. The most important of the published decrees
are the sterilization laws. No figures on the total number of
operations are available, nor is there any certainty that
'feeble-mindedness' has been the major argument resorted to.
Physicians recently employed in German hospitals estimate
that the total number of operations since 1933 — the law was
decreed during July of that year — exceed 200,000. £migrt
authorities whose veracity there is no reason to doubt insist
that a good portion of these sterilizations were carried out for
racial or political reasons. Some Catholic physicians have been
320 MEIN KAMPF
alienation of property from the employee, however, was
now increased ad infinitum. The stock exchange began to
triumph and proceeded to take slowly but gradually the
life of the nation in its charge and control.
The internationalization of German economic life had
been introduced even before the War by the roundabout
way of the stock issues. Indeed, one part of German indus-
try still tried to guard itself with determination against this
fate; but then, in turn, it fell victim to the combined attack
removed from their positions for unwillingness to enforce the
law. (Cf. also Nazi Germany: Its Women and Family Life, by
Clifford Kirkpatrick.)
In addition the 'new nobility* is in process of formation.
The most important caste is formed by the S.S. — the black-
garbed Schutzstaffd (Safety Staff) commanded by Himmler;
and this is now governed by a rigid marital code. The Nttrn-
berg Laws on Race and Citizenship, passed in 1935, provide
(Articles I and 2 of Section II): 'Marriages between Jews and
subjects of German or kindred blood are forbidden. Marriages
contracted despite this law are invalid, even if they be con-
cluded abroad in order to circumvent this law. . . . Extra-
marital relations between Jews and subjects of German or
kindred blood are forbidden.' In addition, certain 'experi-
ments' in breeding have been conducted.
Finally it may be added that the most famous recruit to
National Socialism from the ranks of the German nobility is
Prince August Wilhelm, fourth son of the ex-Kaiser. He was
a familiar addendum to Nazi rallies prior to the Machtcr-
greifung (seizure of power). But during the 'blood purge' of
1934 he was suddenly ordered by General Goering to take a
holiday in Switzerland, with which request he conformed
without delay. During the 'crisis' that developed in 1938 out
of Hitler's relations with the Reichswehr, the ex-Crown
Prince was despatched on a similar excursion into the Swiss
Alps.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 321
of greedy capital which fought this battle especially with
the aid of its faithful comrade, the Marxist movement.
The continued war against the German 'heavy industry*
was the visible beginning of the German economy's inter-
nationalization, aimed at by Marxism's victory in the Rev-
olution. While I am writing this, the general attack against
the German State Railways, which is now handed over to
the international capital, has finally been successful. With
this the 'international' Social Democracy has again
reached one of its high objectives.
How far one had succeeded in this 'economization' of the
German people is probably most visible from the fact that
finally after the War one of the leading heads of German
industry, and above all, German trade, was able to express
the opinion that economy as such would be in a position to
re-erect Germany, nonsense which was dished up in a very
moment when France again based instruction in her schools
primarily on the humanistic principles, in order to prevent
the opinion that the nation and the State owed their exist-
ence to business and not to eternally ideal values. The
remark which in those days a Stinnes gave the world caused
After the platform of the Social Democratic Party had be-
come ' reformist ' in character, attention was devoted primarily
to the question: 'What industries are ripe for socialization?'
When the War was over, two commissions were appointed by
the Reich government to look into the matter. The principal
result was a theoretical decision that the coal industry ought
to be socialized. Nothing else was accomplished, unless the
law establishing 'industrial workers' councils' be considered
an advance. Under the Dawes Plan, the German Railroads
were organized into a separate 'company' (Reichsbahn-
GeseUschaft) in the management of which the Reparations
Commission had a share. The idea was to collect reparations
money from the proceeds of the railroads, which remained,
however, the property of the Reich.
322 MEIN KAMPF
the most unbelievable confusion; because it was taken up
immediately in order to become, with marvelous speed, the
leit-motiv of all quacks and prattlers whom Heaven had let
loose over Germany in the capacity of 'statesmen' since
the Revolution.
One of the most evil symptoms of decay in pre-War Germany
was the constant spreading of half measures in all and every-
thing. It is always the consequence of one's own uncer-
tainty about some affair as well as of a cowardice resulting
from these and other reasons. This disease is promoted
further by education.
German education before the War was afflicted with an
extremely great number of weaknesses. Its intention was
cut out, in a very one-sided manner, for the purpose of
breeding pure 'knowledge'; it was orientated less towards
'abilities,' and far less emphasis was put on the cultivation
of character in the individual (as far as this is at all pos-
sible!), very little on the promotion of the joy of accepting
Compare Spengler (Zucht oder Bildung?): 'First comes con-
duct, and then knowledge. But as a nation we are not at all
aware of what conduct is, and we have had far too much
"education." We have been crammed full of knowledge that
has no bearing on life, which is purposeless and directionless,
by indefatigable teachers unable to propose to themselves any
other task. But it is one thing to be pedantic, and another to
possess prudence, knowledge of life, and experience in the ways
of the world. ... I would place Latin in the foreground, even
today. Germany owes to the thorough training in Latin af-
forded by its gymnasia during the past century more than it
realizes. To that training it owes its intellectual discipline,
its talent for organization, and its progress in technology.1
Spengler adds, in prophetic words, that teaching history and
'educting the people politically' are one and the same thing.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 323
responsibility, and none at all on the training of will power
and determination. Its results were really not the strong
man, but rather the pliable 'know-all/ as which we Ger-
mans were generally looked upon before the War and were
esteemed accordingly. One liked the German, as he was
very useful, but one respected him too little, just in conse-
quence of his weakness of will. Not without reason was it
above all he, who of all people most easily lost his nation-
ality and his fatherland. The nice proverb, ' M it dem Hute in
der Hand komnti man durch das ganze Land' [with one's hat
in one's hand one can go through the whole land], says all
there is to say.
This pliability became really disastrous, however, when
it determined the forms with which alone one was per-
mitted to approach the monarch ; that means, never to con-
tradict him, but to agree to all and everything that His
Majesty pleases to ordain. The free dignity of man was
most needed just in this very place, if otherwise the mon-
archistic institution was not to perish some day just because
of this cringing; for it was cringing and nothing else, and
only to miserable cringers and sneaks, in short, to the whole
decadent pack which has always felt at home around the
highest thrones more than the honorable, decent, and hon-
est souls, this can pass for the only given form of contact
with the wearers of a crown. These 'most humble9 crea-
tures, however, with all humility towards their master and
bread-provider, have forever demonstrated their greatest
impudence towards the other part of mankind, and most of
all when it pleased them to have the cheek to present them-
selves as solely 'monarchistic' to the other sinners; a gen-
uine impudence which only such a titled or untitled maw-
worm can exhibit. For in truth these people have been the
gravediggers of the monarchy and especially of the mon-
archistic idea. This is conceivable in no other way. A man
who is ready to stand up for a cause will and can never be a
324 MEIN KAMPF
sneak and a characterless cringer. He who is really seri-
ously concerned about the preservation and the furtherance
of an institution will cling to it with the last fiber of his
heart, and will never be able to get over the fact if evils of
some kind become apparent in that institution, but such a
man indeed will not cry this out publicly, as the democratic
'friends' (?) of the monarchy did in exactly the same men-
dacious manner, but he will most seriously warn and try
to influence His Majesty in person, the bearer of the crown.
Thereby he will not and must not take the point of view
that His Majesty will nevertheless be at liberty to act
according to his will, even if this may and is bound to lead
to disaster, but in such a case he will have to protect the
monarchy against the monarch, and this at any risk. For,
if the value of this institution were to be found in the per-
son of the monarch who happens to reign at the time in-
volved, then this would be the worst institution conceiv-
able as a whole, for only in the rarest cases are the monarchs
the 61ite of wisdom and reason, or even of character, as one
likes to describe them. Only the professional cringers and
sneaks believe this, but all straightforward people — and
these are nevertheless still the most valuable individuals of
the State — will feel repulsed by the representation of such
an absurd opinion. For them history is only history, and
truth is truth, even if the parties involved are monarchs.
No, the fortune to possess a great monarch in the person of
a great man falls only so rarely to the share of the people
that they have to be content if the malice of Fate at least
abstains from making the very worst mistake.
Thus the value and the importance of the monarchistic
idea cannot lie in the person of the monarch himself, except
Heaven resolves to place the crown on the temples of an
heroic genius like Frederick the Great or of a wise character
like Wilhelm I. This happens once in the course of cen-
turies, and hardly more often. For the rest, however, the
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 325
idea takes precedence of the person, since the meaning of
this arrangement lies exclusively in this institution itself.
But with this the monarch himself falls into the circle of
service. Now he, too, is only a wheel in this work, and in
this capacity he is obligated to the work. He, too, has now
to submit to the higher end, and 'monarchist' is no longer
he who silently lets the bearer of the crown sin against him-
self, but he who prevents this. If it were different, not even
the dethronement of an obviously mentally deranged prince
would be permissible, if the meaning were not found in the
idea, but in the ' sacred * person at any price,
t Today it is really necessary to put this down, as recently
These remarks are, in view of much that has been entered
into the ledger since 1923, a fairly beguiling temptation to be
retrospective. The relationships between Hitler and Wilhelm
II are worth studying for the light they throw on German
psychology. In both cases oratorical talent was used to flutter
the dovecotes in the majority of European capitals. Both were
disciples of Chamberlain, and both believed firmly in the
inevitable 'war of races.1 God was with Wilhelm as he is with
Hitler. Under the old regime, there was Prince Eulenberg;
under the new there is Rudolf Hess. The court pianist tradi-
tion survived into the Third Reich. The craving to be re-
ceived into British society has endured, together with the same
inability to 'arrive.1 Before the War, naval officers preparing
to receive the Kaiser on a tour of inspection, were surprised
to find that a lofty pedestal had been erected, to the top of
which a staircase led. The riddle was solved when Wilhelm
ascended to that lofty perch and talked down to his dear navy.
In 1 935 1 a similar pedestal was constructed for the Niirnberg
Party Conference. Hitler mounted, and talked down to his
beloved S.A. The Kaiser's picture, in days gone by, was
ubiquitous; Hitler's is now, if possible, still more universal.
But to date the fondness for uniforms has apparently been
bequeathed to General Goering.
326 MEIN KAMPF
more and more of those types begin again to emerge from
obscurity to whose wretched attitude the collapse of the
monarchy must be ascribed not in least degree. With a
certain naive imperturbability, these people now talk again
only of 'their' king (whom, however, they had nevertheless
left in the lurch in the most wretched manner, in the criti-
cal hour only a few years ago), and they begin to describe
as a bad German every man who is not willing to tune in
with their mendacious tirades, while in truth these are
exactly the same poltroons who in the year 1918 dispersed
and rushed away from each and every red arm badge, who
let their king be king, immediately exchanged halberd for
the walking stick, donned neutral neckties, and disap-
peared, as peaceful 'citizens,' actually without leaving a
trace. At that time they had disappeared at one blow, these
royal champions, and only after the revolutionary hurricane
had calmed down, thanks to the activity of the others, so
that one could again blare out into the air one's ' Hail to the
King, Hail,' these 'servants' and 'councillors' of the crown
began again to emerge cautiously. But now they are all
here, and they cast their eyes longingly backwards towards
the fleshpots of Egypt, they hardly can restrain themselves
for loyalty towards the king and for eagerness to accomplish
great feats, till perhaps the first red arm badge will some
day appear again, and the ghostly crowd of the parties inter-
ested in the monarchy bolts again, like mice before the cat.
If the monarchs themselves were not guilty of these
things, one could only pity them most heartily because of
their defenders of today. But they can be convinced, at
any rate, that with such knights one loses perhaps one's
throne, but that one does not fight for crowns.
This devotion, however, was a fault of our entire educa-
tion, a fault which took its revenge now in this place in an
especially terrible manner.
For in consequence of this, these wretched types were
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 387
able to hold their ground at all courts and to undermine
gradually the foundations of the monarchy. But when the
building then finally began to shake, they were blown away
as it were and disappeared. Naturally: cringers and flunk-
ies do not let themselves be killed for their master. That
the monarchs never know this and on principle fail to learn
this has been their doom of old.
One of the worst symptoms of decay was the increasing cow-
ardice towards responsibility as well as the half-heartedness in
all things resulting from it.
t The starting-point of this plague, however, lies with us
to a great part in the purest cultivation of irresponsibility in
our parliamentary institution: unfortunately, this plague
invaded slowly also the remaining domains of life, most of
all that of the State. Everywhere one began to evade re-
sponsibility and for this reason one preferred to take up
half and insufficient measures; because by their application
the measure of the responsibility to be borne personally
seems to be screwed down to the smallest size.
One need only look at the attitude of the various govern-
ments towards a series of really detrimental symptoms of
our public life, and one will easily recognize the terrible
meaning of this general half-heartedness and cowardice
towards responsibility.-^
Here again Spengler is interesting. 'We must set to work
here and now,' he declared in Der Sumpf, 'relentlessly finding
the sore on the German body, if a long-drawn-out, creeping
illness is to be cured.' But Spengler detected the evil, not in
the parliamentary system as such, or even in Marxism, but
rather in the mechanics of party life. Parties, he contended,
became ends in themselves, and lost all relation to the bane
central concerns of the nation.
328 MEIN KAMPF
I take up only a few cases out of the vast number which
is at our disposal:
Just in journalistic circles one usually prefers to call the
press a 'great power' of the State. As a matter of fact its
importance is truly enormous. It cannot be overestimated ;
it is indeed actually the continuation of the education of
youth in advanced age.
t Thereby one can divide the readers as a whole into three
groups:
First, those who believe everything they read;
Secondly, those who no longer believe anything;
Thirdly, those who critically examine what they have
read and judge accordingly.
The first group is numerically by far the greatest. It con-
sists of the great masses of the people and therefore repre-
sents the mentally simplest part of the nation. But it can-
not at all be expressed in terms of professions, but, at the
utmost, in general grades of intelligence. To it belong all
those to whom independent thinking is neither inborn nor
instilled by education, and who, partly through inability and
partly through incompetence, believe everything that is
put before them printed in black on white. Also those lazy-
bones belong to it who are well able to think for themselves,
but who, out of sheer mental inertia, gratefully pick up
anything that someone else has thought before, with the
modest assumption that the latter will probably have exer-
cised the right kind of effort. Now with all these people,
who represent the great masses, the influence of the press
will be enormous. They are not in a position, or they do
not wish personally, to examine what is offered to them so
that their entire attitude towards all current problems can
be led back almost exclusively to the outward influence of
others. This may be of advantage in case their enlighten-
ment is carried out by a sincere and truth-loving party, but
it is evil as soon as scoundrels or liars do this.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 329
The second group is much smaller even in number. It is
composed of the greater part of elements which first be-
longed to the first group, and who after long and bitter dis-
appointments changed over to the contrary and believe no
longer in anything at all that comes in the form of print
before their eyes. They hate every newspaper; either they
do not read it at all or they are annoyed at the contents
without exception, since in their opinion it is composed
only of lies and untruths. These people are very difficult to
handle, as they will also always face the truth mistrustingly.
Therefore they are lost to every positive work.
The third group finally is by far the smallest; it consists
of the mentally truly fine heads whom natural gifts and
education have taught to think independently, who try to
form a judgment of their own about everything, and who
submit most thoroughly everything they have read to an
examination and further development of their own. They
will not place a newspaper before their eyes without making
their brains co-operate continuously, and then Mr. Author
will not easily hold his own. The journalists therefore like
such a reader only with reserve.
For this third group, indeed, the nonsense which a news-
paper may scribble together is of little danger or impor-
tance. They have accustomed themselves anyhow in the
course of their lifetime to see as a rule in every journalist a
scoundrel who tells the truth only occasionally. Unfortu-
nately, however, the importance of these excellent people
lies only in their intelligence and not in their number; a mis-
fortune in a time in which wisdom is nothing and the major-
ity everything. Today, where the ballot of the masses de-
cides, the decisive value lies with the most numerous group
and this is the first one: the crowd of the simple ones and
the credulous.**
It is in the paramount interest of the State and the na-
tion to prevent these people from falling into the hands ot
330 MEIN KAMPF
evil, ignorant, or even malevolent educators. The State,
therefore, has the duty to supervise their education and to
prevent any nuisance. Therefore, it has to watch especially
the press, for its influence is by far the strongest and most
penetrating on these people, as it is applied not temporarily
but permanently. In the persistent and eternal repetition
of this instruction lies its entire unheard-of importance.
Therefore, if in any place at all, the State must not forget
that just in here all means must serve an end ; it must not let
itself be misled by the boast of a so-called ' freedom of the
press/ and must not be persuaded to fail in its duty and to
put before the nation the food that it needs and that is good
for it; it must assure itself with ruthless determination of
this means for educating the people and to put into the
service of the State and the nation.
But what food was it that the German press of the pre-
War time put before these people? Was it not the worst
conceivable poison? Was not the worst kind of pacifism
inoculated into the heart of our people, at a time when the
rest of the world was about to throttle Germany slowly but
surely? Did not this press, even in times of peace, instill
into the brains of the people doubts about the rights of their
own State, in order to restrict it from the beginning in the
choice of the means for its defense? Was it not the German
press which knew how to make palatable to our people the
nonsense of 'Western Democracy/ till finally, captured by
all these enthusiastic tirades, it thought that it could en-
trust its future to a League of Nations? Did it not help in
educating our people towards a wretched immorality? Did
it not ridicule morals and customs, interpreting them as
being old-fashioned and humdrum, till finally our people
actually became 'modern'? Did it not, by continued
attack, undermine the fundamentals of State authority for
so long till a single blow was sufficient to cause the collapse
of this building? Did it not once fight against every mani-
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 331
festation of the will to give to the State what belongs to it,
did it not fight with all means, did it not disparage the
army by continued criticism, did it not sabotage general
conscription, and did it not solicit the refusal of military
credits, etc., till the results could not fail to arrive?
The activity of the so-called liberal press was the work of
gravediggers for the German people and the German Reich.
One can pass by in silence the Marxist papers of lies; to
them lying is as necessary to their life as catching mice is to
the cat; but its task is only to break the people's folkish and
national spine, in order to make it ripe for the yoke of slav-
ery of international capital and its masters, the Jews.
But what did the State do against this mass poisoning
of the nation? Nothing, actually nothing. A few ridiculous
decrees, a few fines against too great villainies, and that
was all. But instead, one hoped perhaps to gain the favor of
this pest by bringing forth flatteries and acknowledgments
of the 'value' of the press, its 'importance,' its 'educational
mission,' and the other nonsense of that kind, which the
Jews, slyly smiling, received and accepted with cunning
thanks.
The cause for this miserable failure, however, was not
the non-recognition of the danger but rather a cowardice,
crying to Heaven, and the half-heartedness of all resolu-
tions and measures, born out of it. Nobody had the cour-
age to take up thoroughgoing radical means, but here, as
everywhere else, one bungled about with half prescriptions,
and, instead of delivering the coup de grdce, one perhaps
only irritated the viper, with the result that not only every-
thing remained as it had been, but that, on the contrary,
the power of the institution to be fought increased from
year to year.
The German government's defensive against the press
horde, slowly corrupting the nation, of chiefly Jewish origin
and of Jewish journals, was without a straight line, without
332 MEIN KAMPF
determination, but above all without any visible goal. Here
the brains of the privy councillors gave out completely, in
the estimation of the importance of this fight as well as
in the choice of the means, and the establishment of a clear
plan. Planlessly one doctored about; at a time when one
had been bitten too much one locked up such a journalistic
viper for a few weeks or months, but one left the snake's
nest as such well alone.
This was partly, of course, also the consequence of the
infinitely sly tactics of Jewry on the one hand and of a
stupidity or harmlessness typical amongst privy councillors
on the other. The Jew was much too clever to permit his
entire press to be attacked uniformly. No, the purpose of
a part of it was to cover up. While the Marxist papers, in
the meanest way, went to battle against everything that
The 'Jewish press1 was a slogan then, as it has since been in
other lands. As a matter of fact, a few of the ablest 'liberal'
journals in Germany were edited by Jews. Nevertheless, when
one views the press of the country as a whole, the Jewish in-
fluence appears to have been limited to the 'democratic' news-
papers of Berlin and Frankfort. More emotion was aroused by
a number of vigorous Jewish opposition journalists of an in-
dependent stamp — Maximilian Harden, Kurt Eisner, L.
Schwarzschild, Georg Bernhard.
Since 1933 the German press has been completely 'subordi-
nated' (gleichgeschaltet). The first to go were the labor news-
papers, not the Marxist ones merely, but particularly those
of the trade unions. Der Deutsche — the paper which Dr. Hein-
rich Brflning founded and which he once edited — had been
the organ of the Christian unions; now it was transformed
into the daily mouthpiece of Dr. Robert Ley, leader of the
Arbeitsfront (Labor Front). Oddly enough the Jewish-owned
journals were the ones to retain longest a measure of inde-
pendence, because they had been sold in time to powerful
industrial organizations. The Frankfurter Zcitung, for ex-
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 333
may be sacred to man, while they attacked State and gov-
ernment in the most infamous manner and set great parts of
the people by the ears, the bourgeois democratic Jewish
papers knew how to give themselves the air of the well-
known 'objectivity'; they carefully avoided all strong
language, well knowing that all empty-heads are able to
judge all things only according to their appearance and that
they never have the ability to penetrate into the interior,
so that for them the value of a cause is judged by the ex-
terior instead of by the contents ; a human weakness to which
they fortunately owe also the attention they receive.
For these people the Frankfurter Zeitung was and is in-
deed the incorporation of all decency; for it never employs
ample, had a fairy godmother in I. G. Farben, the chemical
trust. Religious dailies, many of which had been strong and
influential concerns, were thoroughly curbed. The editors
were fired in lots of a dozen. What remained were journalistic
torsos, which should have been permitted to die a respectable
death. For a while Colonel Franz von Papen held a jittery
protecting hand over the Catholic Germania of Berlin, once
the organ to which all had turned for information concerning
the views of the powerful Center Party. Then at last the
miserable remnant of former glories was snuffed out in 1938.
The Vienna Reichspost, organ of Dollfuss and Schuschnigg,
collapsed far more rapidly. The provincial newspapers became
mere reprints of hand-outs from the Propaganda Office.
The press is the Nazi Party's greatest source of income,
being a monopoly of tremendous dimensions. The Volkische
Beobachter is the official paper, but almost every Nazi chieftain
has a journal peculiarly his own. Particular value is attached
to the illustrated weeklies, many of which are highly effective
propaganda media. Every Nazi event is a photographers*
holiday. During a single Rosenberg speech in 1933, official
cameramen took 456 flashlight pictures. The Party also main-
tains a considerable number of newspapers in foreign countries.
334 MEIN KAMPF
crude expressions, it rejects all physical brutality, and
always appeals to fight with 'spiritual' means which,
strangely enough, is nearest to the heart of just the most
unintelligent people. This is a result of our semi-education
which detaches the people from the instinct of nature,
pumps a certain knowledge into them without being able
to lead them to the ultimate realization, as for this purpose
industry and good will alone are not useful, but the neces-
sary reason has to be present, and not only that, it has to
be inborn. The ultimate realization, however, is always
only the understanding of the causes of the instinct; that
means, man will then never fall into the lunacy of believing
that he has now really advanced to the position of master
and lord of Nature, which the conceit of a semi-education
brings about so easily, but he will then understand all the
more the fundamental necessity of the working of Nature,
and he will realize how far also his existence is subjected
to these laws of the eternal battle and struggle in an up-
ward direction. We will then feel that, in a world in which
the planets circle around the sun, where moons ride around
planets, where power alone is always the master of weakness
and forces it into obedient service or else breaks it, there
can be no special laws valid for man. For him also the
eternal principles of this ultimate wisdom apply. He can
try to comprehend them, but he will never be able to free
himself from them.
But it is just for our intellectual demi-monde that the
Jew writes his so-called intellectual press. For them the
The Berliner Tageblatt, edited by Theodor Wolff, was the
paper the Nazis most hated, excepting the much less influential
Gerade Weg, of Munich. On the day the Party came to power,
offices of the second journal were smashed to bits and the editor
— Dr. Fritz Gerlich — was jailed. He was eventually executed.
Theodor Wolff escaped from Germany in 1933.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 335
Frankfurter Zeitung and the Berliner TageblaU are made,
for them their tone is tuned, and on them finally they exer-
cise their influence. By avoiding most carefully all forms
seeming outwardly rude, they nevertheless pour the poison
from other vessels into the hearts of their readers. Under a
geseires [Yiddish; from the Hebrew gezera, meaning unnec-
essary talk] of nice sounds and phrases they lull them into
the faith as though really pure science or even morality were
the driving forces behind their activity, while in reality it is
only the ingenious and cunning art of stealing in this man-
ner from the hand of the enemy the weapon against the
press. For while some are dripping with decency, all weak
heads are the more inclined to believe that with the others
it is a case of only minor excrescences, which, however,
should never be allowed to lead to an infringement of the
freedom of the press (as one calls this nuisance of unpunish-
able lying to, and poisoning of, the people). Thus one shies
from proceeding against this banditry, as one fears that in
such a case one will immediately have the 'decent' press
against oneself; a fear that is only too justified. For, as soon
as one tries to proceed against one of these disgraceful
papers, immediately all the others will take its side, but by
no means perhaps in order to endorse its kind of fight, Heaven
forbid ; only the principle of the freedom of the press and
of public opinion are involved ; this alone has to be defended.
But the strongest man weakens in the face of this clamor,
since it comes from the mouth of only ' decent ' papers. . . .
Thus the poison could penetrate into and work in the
system of our people without hindrance and without the
State having the power to master the disease. In the ridicu-
lous and half-hearted means which it applied against it is
shown the threatening decay of the Reich. For an institu-
tion which is no longer determined to defend itself with all
weapons practically gives itself up. Every half measure is
then the visible symptom of internal decay which will
336 MEIN KAMPF
and must be followed, sooner or later, by external col-
lapse.
I believe that the present generation, rightly guided,
will more easily overcome this danger. It has experienced
several things which were able to strengthen the nerves of
those who did not lose them altogether. Surely in the
future, the Jew will certainly raise an enormous clamor in
his newspapers, once the hand is put on his favorite nest
and an end is made of the misuse of the press, and once
also this instrument of education is put into the service of
the State and is no longer left in the hand of strangers and
enemies of the people. But I also believe that this will
annoy us younger ones less than it once did our fathers.
A 30 cm. shell has always hissed more than a thousand
Jewish newspaper vipers; therefore let them hiss.
t A further example for the half-heartedness and the weak-
ness of the leading authority in pre-War Germany in the
most important vital questions of the nation can be the
following: Parallel with the political and moral infection
of the people went a no less terrible poisoning of the health
of the national body. Syphilis began to spread more and
more, especially in the great cities, while tuberculosis was
steadily reaping its harvest of death almost throughout the
entire country.
Although in both cases the consequences for the nation
This extensive philippic against syphilis is among the most
interesting passages in Mein Kampf. Much medical or pseudo-
medical speculation has been built up round about it, with
which we do not associate ourselves. The essential point is
that syphilis and Rassenschande (i.e., cohabitation between a
German and a person of impure blood) are placed on the same
level. The first can be cured, however. The second i» irre-
parable.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 337
were terrible, one could no longer bring oneself to take
decisive measures.
Towards syphilis especially one can describe the attitude
of the national and State authority only with the words,
complete capitulation. If one wanted to fight it seriously,
one had to take quite different steps than was actually the
case. The invention of a remedy of a questionable character
as well as the commercial exploitation of the latter are able
to help but little with this plague. Also here only the fight
against the causes should be considered and not the aboli-
tion of the symptoms. The cause, however, lies primarily
in our prostitution of love. Even if the result of this were
not this terrible disease, yet it would still be of deepest
danger for the people, for the moral devastation which this
depravity brings with it are sufficient to destroy a people
slowly but surely. The Judaization of our spiritual life and
the mammonization [sic] of our mating impulse sooner or
later befouls our entire new generation, for instead of vig-
orous children of natural feeling, only the miserable speci-
mens of financial expedience come forth. For this becomes
more and more the basis and the only prerequisite for our
marriages. Love, however, finds an outlet somewhere else.
Naturally, one can also here mock Nature for a certain
time, but the revenge will not fail to appear, it only will
appear later, or rather, it is often recognized too late by
the people.
However, how devastating are the consequences of a
continued disregard of the natural presuppositions for mar-
riage can be demonstrated by our aristocracy. Here one
is presented with the results of a propagation which has
been based for one part on purely social compulsion, for
the other on financial reasons. The one leads to weakening
altogether, the other to blood poisoning, as now every
department-store Jewess is considered suitable to augment
the offspring of 'His Highness.9 The latter then looks like
131 MEIN KAMPF
it. In both cases complete degeneration is the consequence.
Our 'middle class9 takes pains today to walk the same
way and it will end at the same goal.
With indifferent haste one tries to pass by disagreeable
truths, as though by such an attitude one could make these
things undone. No, the fact that the population of our big
cities is prostituted more and more in its love life, and that
just through this it falls victim to syphilis in more and
wider circles, cannot just be abolished by denying it; it is
there. The most obvious results of this mass contagion
can be found on the one hand in the lunatic asylums, and
on the other, unfortunately, in our — children. These es-
pecially are the sad certificates of misery of the irresistibly
advancing tainting of our sexual life; in the diseases of the
children the vices of the parents are revealed.
Now there are different ways to reconcile oneself with
this disagreeable, even terrible fact: some do not see any-
thing at all, or rather they do not want to see anything:
this is of course by far the most simple and cheapest 'atti-
tude'; others wrap themselves in a saintly cloak of prudish-
ness that is as ridiculous as it is also mendacious; they only
talk of this entire domain as if it were a great sin, and,
above all, in the presence of every sinner caught in the
act, they express their deeply felt inner indignation in order
then to close their eyes in pious disgust towards this vicious
disease and to ask God (if possible after their own death)
to rain fire and brimstone upon this Sodom and Gomorrah
in order once again to make an elevating example of this
disgraceful mankind ; a third group see very well the terrible
consequences which this disease is bound to, and will, bring
with it, but nevertheless they only shrug their shoulders,
convinced that they can do nothing against this danger,
anyhow, so that one has to let things go as they are going.
All this is of course comfortable and simple, only one
must not forget that a nation will fall victim to such inertia*
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 339
The excuse that the other nations are no better off of
course can hardly change anything In respect to the fact
of their own decline, except perhaps that the feeling that
others also meet with misfortune would bring for many a
mitigation of their own pains. However, the question is
then all the more which nation first and by itself is able
to master this plague, and which nations cannot help per-
ishing. But that is what matters in the end. This also is
only a touchstone for the value of a race, and that race
which does not pass the test will die and make room for
races healthier or at least tougher and of greater resistance.
For, since this question primarily concerns the coming gen-
eration, it belongs to those of whom it is said, with terrible
correctness, that the sins of the fathers are visited upon
the tenth generation.
But this is valid only for the sins against blood and race.
The sin against the blood and the degradation of the race
are the hereditary sin of this world and the end of a mankind
surrendering to them.
But how truly miserably did the Germany of pre-War
times face just this one question. What was done in order
to check the tainting of our young generation in the big
cities? What was done to attack the infecting and mam-
monization [sic] of our love life? What, in order to fight
the resulting syphilization of our national body?
The answer is most easily given by stating what should
have been done.
First, one should not be allowed to take this question
too easily, but to understand that upon its solution will
depend the happiness or the unhappiness of generations,
nay, that it may be or even must be decisive for the entire
future of our people. Such a realization, however, required
ruthless measures and interventions. At the top of all re-
flections the conviction should have been placed that first
of all the attention of the entire nation has to be concen-
340 MEIN KAMPF
trated on this terrible danger, so that every single indi-
vidual becomes conscious in his mind of the significance of
this fight. One can bring obligations and burdens which
are incisive, and sometimes hard to bear, to a general effec-
tiveness only when, apart from compulsion, also the real-
ization of the necessity of this activity is given to the
individual. But this demands an enormous enlightenment
to the exclusion of all current questions which have an
otherwise deviating effect.
In all cases which involve the fulfillment of apparently
impossible demands or tasks, the entire attention of a people
has to be united uniformly on this one question in such a
manner as though indeed its existence or non-existence de-
pended upon its solution. Only thus will one make a people
willing and able to undertake truly great achievements
and efforts.
This principle is valid also for the individual, as far
as he wishes to attain great goals. He, too, will be able
to do this only in step-like sections. He, too, will then
always have to unite his entire efforts on the reaching of
a certain limited task, until this seems to be fulfilled and
the marking of a new section can be undertaken. He who
does not carry out the partition of the way to be conquered
into single sections, and then tries to conquer them plan-
fully with sharpest concentration of all forces, one by one,
will never be able to arrive at the goal, but he will remain
lying somewhere on the way, perhaps even by the side of it.
This gradual approach to a goal by work is an art and it
requires at a time the staking of actually the utmost energy
in order to conquer the way, step by step.
This is, therefore, the very first preliminary condition
which is necessary for the attack on so difficult a part of
the human way, the condition that the leadership succeeds
in presenting to the masses of the people just that part of
the goal which has to be reached, or, rather, which has to
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 341
be fought for, as the one that is now solely and alone
worthy of human attention, and upon the conquest of
which everything depends. The great masses of the people,
anyhow, can never see the whole way before them with-
out getting tired and without despairing of the task. They
will keep the goal before their eyes only to a certain extent,
but they will be able to visualize the way only in small
sections, similar to the wanderer who also knows and is
aware of the end of his journey, but who overcomes the
endless road better if he cuts it up into sections and now
marches ahead towards each single one, as though this
were the desired goal. Only thus he advances without
despairing.
Thus, by employing all propagandistic auxiliary means,
one should have made the fight against syphilis appear as
the task of the nation, not as one task among others. For
this purpose one should have hammered into the people its
evils as the most terrible misfortune in its full extent, and
under application of all auxiliary measures, till the whole
nation should have come to the conviction that upon the
solution of this question really everything depends, future
or doom.
Only after such a preparation, carried out for years if
To date the 'extensive propaganda* anent syphilis has not
been one of the principal achievements of the Third Reich.
In 1933 strong measures were taken to curb prostitution.
Under the Republic, the Berlin Department of Health had
taken the view that all the State could intelligently do was to
control the health of the street- walker. The changes in the
law resulted, however, in 40,000 new cases of syphilis within
a few months (according to an official report). Recently there
has been a tendency to control the effects of social disease by
examining persons who wish to marry, especially if they seek a
loan from the government in accordance with the laws provid-
ing grants of aid to prospective bridegrooms.
342 MEIN KAMPF
necessary, will the attention, and with it also the determina-
tion, of a whole people be awakened to such an extent that
now one will be able to take very difficult and sacrificial
measures without running the risk that one will not be
understood or that one will suddenly be left in the lurch
by the willingness of the masses.
For, in order to attack this plague seriously, enormous
sacrifices and works just as great are necessary.
The fight against syphilis requires a fight against prosti-
tution, against prejudices, old habits, against previous
ideas, general opinions, amongst them last but not least,
against the mendacious prudishness in certain circles, etc.
The first condition for only the moral right to fight
against these things is to make early marriage possible for
the coming generation. In late marriages alone lies the
compulsion for keeping an institution which, no matter
how much one may turn and twist oneself, is and remains
a disgrace to mankind, an institution which damned badly
suits a being who otherwise in modesty likes to consider
itself the 'image' of God.
Prostitution is a disgrace to mankind, but one cannot
abolish it by moral lectures, pious intentions, etc., but its
limitation and its final elimination warrant the abolition
of quite a number of preliminary conditions. But the first
is and remains the creation of the possibility of early
marriage, according to human nature, above all for the
man; because the woman is here only the passive part,
anyhow.
However, how erring, even how incomprehensible the
people have partly become today may be derived from the
fact that one not seldom hears mothers of the so-called
'better* society say that they are grateful to find a husband
for their child who has 'already sown his wild oats/ etc.
As in this direction there is in most cases less shortage than
would be the case the other way round, the poor girl
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 343
therefore will fortunately find such a de-horned Siegfried,
and the children will be the visible result of such a 'sen-
sible1 marriage. If one considers that, apart from this, a
restriction of propagation itself, as far as possible, takes
place, so that Nature is barred from all choice, as now
naturally every human being, no matter how miserable,
has to be kept alive, there remains only the question why
then such an institution still exists at all and what purpose
it is supposed to have? Is this then not exactly the same
as prostitution itself? Does then the duty towards poster-
ity no longer play any r&le at all? Or does one not realize
with what curse one burdens oneself, towards children and
children's children, by such a criminally careless manner
in the guarding of the ultimate right of Nature and even
of the ultimate obligation towards Nature?
Thus the cultured people degenerate and perish gradually.
Marriage also cannot be an end in itself, but has to
serve the one greater aim, the propagation and preserva-
tion of the species and the race. Only this is its meaning
and its task.
But if this is true, then its soundness can be measured
only by the manner in which it fulfills this purpose. Evea
for this reason, an early marriage is right, as it gives the
young marriage still that force from which alone a healthy
generation, capable of resisting, can ensue. Of course, to
make this possible, quite a series of social conditions are
necessary without which one cannot think of an early
marriage. Therefore, the solution of this question, which
is so small, cannot take place without incisive measures in
Prior to 1925, the Republic had, it is true, been able to do
very little towards solving the problem of housing. The end
of the War not only brought the army back home, but also
forced into the larger cities a constant stream of refugees from
territories sundered from Germany by the peace treaties.
344 MEIN KAMPF
social regard. What importance must be attributed to
these should be understood most of all in a time when the
so-called 'social' republic, by its inability in the solution
of the housing question alone, simply prevents numerous
marriages and thus favors prostitution.
The absurdity of our way of arranging salaries, which
considers the question of the family and its support far
too little, is also a reason which makes so many an early
marriage impossible.
Therefore, one can approach a real fight against prosti-
tution only if, by a fundamental change of social condi-
tions, earlier marriage than can take place now is made
It is sometimes estimated that 1,000,000 persons migrated
from the regions ceded to Poland. In addition the country
was overrun with fugitives from Russia and the Baltic States.
The government had no money; and during the period of in-
flation the very sources from which revenue might have been
obtained dried up. But as soon as the Dawes Plan went into
effect, housing plans of vast dimensions got under way. During
the four years beginning with 1925, Germany erected more
homes than did any other European country in the same
period. There was much argument concerning the character
of the work done. Socialist municipal governments, often
committed to family limitation, favored apartment houses;
Catholic and Protestant agencies, which sought to promote
'normal' family life, tried whenever possible to erect one-
family houses. Sometimes, as in Cologne, the expenditures
drew from critics the complaint that bankruptcy was inevitable.
Under National Socialism, the trend has predominatingly
been towards one-family housing. This has been aided by a
marked tendency on the part of middle-class families to place
their savings in real property. Yet there is no essential differ-
ence between 1928 and 1935 in this regard, though such a build
ing as the huge apartment-house erected in Neu-K6lln.
Berlin, under the Republic would hardly be erected today.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 345
generally possible. This is the very first preliminary con-
dition for a solution of this question.
In the second place, however, education and training
have to eliminate quite a series of evils about which one
hardly cares at all today. Above all, in our present-day
education a balance between intellectual instruction and
physical training has to take place. What today calls
itself a gymnasium is an insult to the Greek example. With
our education one has entirely forgotten that in the long
run a healthy mind is able to dwell only in a healthy body.
Especially when, with a few exceptions, one looks at the
great masses of the people, this principle receives absolute
validity.
In pre-War Germany there was a time when one no
longer cared for this truth. One simply went on sinning
against the body, and one thought that in the one-sided
training of the 'mind' one possessed a safe guaranty for
the greatness of the nation. A mistake which began to
avenge itself much sooner than one thought. It is no acci-
dent that the bolshevistic wave found nowhere a better
ground than in those places where a population, degener-
ated by hunger and constant undernourishment, lives: in
Central Germany, Saxony, and the Ruhr district. In all
these districts, however, a serious resistance on the part
of the so-called ' intelligentsia ' to this Jewish disease hardly
takes place any longer for the simple reason that the in-
telligentsia itself is physically completely degenerated,
though less by reasons of distress than by reasons of edu-
cation. The exclusively intellectual attitude of our edu-
cation of the higher classes makes them unable — in a
time where not the mind but the fist decides — even to
preserve themselves, let alone to hold their ground. In
physical deficiencies there lies not infrequently the first
cause of personal cowardice.
The exceeding stress on a purely intellectual training
346 MEIN KAMPF
and the neglect of physical training favor also in much
too early youth the formation of sexual conceptions. The
boy who, by sports and gymnastics, is brought to an iron-
like inurement succumbs less to the need of sensual grati-
fication than the stay-at-home who is fed exclusively on
intellectual food. A reasonable education, however, must
take this into consideration. Further, it must not forget
that on the part of the healthy young man the expectations
of the woman will be different than on the part of a pre-
maturely corrupted weakling.^
Thus the entire education has to be directed towards
employing the free time of the boy for the useful training
of his body. He has no right to loaf about idly in these
years, to make streets and movie theaters insecure, but
after his daily work he has to steel and harden his young
body so that life will not find him too soft some day. To
get this under way and also to carry it out, to guide and
to lead is the task of the education of youth, and not the
exclusive infiltration of so-called wisdom. It has also to
do away with the conception that the treatment of the
body were the concern of each individual. There is no
liberty to sin at the expense of posterity and, with it, of
the race.
Parallel with the training of the body, the fight against
the poisoning of the soul has to set in. Our entire public
life today resembles a hothouse of sexual conceptions and
stimulants. One has only to look at the menus of our
movie houses, vaudevilles, and theaters; and one can
hardly deny that this is not the right kind of food, above
all for youth. In shop windows and on billboards one
works with the basest means in order to attract the atten-
tion of the masses. That this is bound to lead to serious
damage to youth is probably clear to everyone who has
not lost the ability to imagine himself in the place of a
youth's soul. This sensual sultry atmosphere leads to
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 347
ideas and stimulations at a time when the boy ought not
yet to have an understanding for such things. The result
of this education can be studied in a not very enjoyable
way with the youth of today. From the courtrooms events
sometimes penetrate to the public which permit a horrible
insight into the inner life of our fourteen- and fifteen-year-
old youths. Who will wonder, therefore, that even in the
circles of this age syphilis begins to seek its victims? And
is it not a misery to see how so many physically weak, and
also mentally corrupt, young men receive their initiation
into marriage by a whore of the big cities?
No, he who wants to attack prostitution must primarily
help to abolish the mental presupposition for it. He has
to clear away the filth of the moral contamination of the
* culture' of our big cities, and this ruthlessly and without
There is no doubt that one of the sources of Nazi strength
lies in the sanity of its attitude towards youth as compared
with the view taken on the whole by German Communism.
This last had a baneful hedonistic core : — the result of the
fact that it stressed the rights of the masses far more effectively
than it did their duties. A good many sound people turned to
Hitlerism because they could not stomach such Communist
demands as these : free contraceptives, family aid to unmarried
lovers, and 'week-ends.' However arguable it may be that
young people without money will not abstain from love rela-
tionships, it is nevertheless a prevalent belief that society ia
something more than just an institute for having a 'good time.'
However sinister the ultimate objectives of the Nazis may be,
there is no doubt that Hitler's soldier helpers have often in-
culcated a healthier attitude towards life.
Unfortunately, the good thus accomplished has in part been
destroyed again by forces inherent in the Nazi dynamic. The
Nazi youth organizations take up ao much of the boy or girl'i
leisure time that little is left for the hearth-side. Moreover,
the 'anti-bourgeois' doctrine inculcated tends to make th«
348 MEIN KAMPF
hesitating despite all clamor and lamentations which then,
of course, will be let loose. If we do not lift our youth out
of the morass of its present surroundings, it will be sub-
merged in it. He who does not want to see these things
supports them and becomes thus a fellow culprit in the
slow prostitution of our future, for the latter lies in the
coming generation. This cleaning-up of our culture must
extend to nearly all domains. Theater, art, literature,
movies, the press, billposters and window displays must be
cleaned of the symptoms of a rotting world and put into
the service of a moral idea of State and culture. Public
life has to be freed from the suffocating perfume of our
modern eroticism, exactly as also of all unmanly prudish
insincerity. In all these things the goal and the way have
to be determined by the care for the preservation of our
people's health in body and soul. The right of personal
freedom steps back in the face of the duty of the preserva-
tion of the race.
f Only after the execution of these measures can the
medical fight against this disease itself be carried on with
some prospects of success. However, here, too, the ques-
tion involved cannot be that of half measures, but also
here one will have to come to the most serious and most
incisive decisions. It is a half measure to allow incurably
ill people the permanent possibility of contaminating the
domestic virtues seem tame. Henri Lichtenberger concludes
(The Third Reich) that 'the gulf between generations, far from
being bridged, is only becoming greater under the Spartan
regime installed by Hitlerism.' Moral conditions are often
deplorable, judged by standards of Christian or bourgeois
morality. The fact that an illegitimate child, if born of 'good
stock/ is considered an asset to the Reich seems to have made
many young girls lose their heads; and an increase in the
practice of homosexual vice is conceded on all sides.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 349
other healthy ones. But this corresponds entirely to a
humaneness which, in order not to hurt one individual,
lets hundreds of others perish. The demand that for de-
fective people the propagation of an equally defective off-
spring be made impossible is a demand of clearest reason
and in its planful execution it means the most humane act
of mankind. It will spare undeserved suffering to millions
of unfortunates, but in the future it will lead to an increas-
ing improvement of health on the whole. The determina-
tion to proceed in this direction will also put up a dam
against the further spreading of venereal diseases. For
here, if necessary, one will have to proceed to the pitiless
isolation of incurably diseased people; a barbaric measure
for one who was unfortunate enough to be stricken with it,
but a blessing for the contemporaries and for posterity.
The temporary pain of a century may and will redeem
millenniums from suffering.
The fight against syphilis and its pacemaker, prostitu-
tion, is one of the most colossal tasks of mankind, colossal
for the reason that it does not involve the solution of a
single question in itself, but rather the abolition of quite
a series of evils which, as their consecutive symptoms,
give the cause for this disease. For the illness of the body
is here only the result of an illness of moral, social, and
racial instincts.
If this fight, by reason of inertia or also cowardice, is
not fought out, then one should look upon the nations five
hundred years from now. Then one would be able to find
only a few images of God, without deliberately insulting
the All Highest.
But how, in the old Germany, had one tried to deal with
this plague? Upon quiet examination there results a really
distressing answer to this. In the circles of the government
one certainly knew the terrible ravages of this illness very
well, though one was perhaps not quite able to visualize
350 MEIN KAMPF
the consequences; but in the fight against it one failed
completely, and instead of thoroughgoing reforms one
preferred to take miserable means. One doctored about
with the disease and one let the causes be causes. One
subjected the individual prostitute to a medical examina-
tion, supervised her as well as might be possible, and in
case of an ascertained illness put her into some hospital,
from which, after being outwardly cured, she was let loose
again on the rest of mankind.
Of course, one had introduced a 'protective paragraph,9
according to which a person who was not quite healthy or
cured had under penalty to avoid sexual intercourse. This
measure is certainly right in itself, but in its practical
execution it fails almost completely. First, the woman, in
case she is met by misfortune in this way, solely in conse-
quence of our, or rather of her, education, will in most
cases refuse to let herself be dragged into the courtroom
(under accompanying circumstances which are certainly
often embarrassing) as a witness against the wretched thief
of her health. Just to her this is of little use; anyhow, in
most cases, she will be the one who has to suffer most from
this; because she is hit much harder by the contempt of
her heartless surroundings than would be the case with
the man. But finally, imagine her situation if the conveyer
of the disease is her own husband. Is she to put him on
trial? Or what else, then, is she to do?
But in the case of the man the fact is added that he
unfortunately runs only too often into the way of this
plague after ample consumption of liquor, as in this state
he is least in a position to judge the qualities of his 4 beauty ' ;
a fact that is only too well known to the prostitute who is
sick, anyhow, and that, for this reason, causes her always
to fish for men in this ideal condition. But the end is that
he, disagreeably surprised later on, is not able to remember
his one-time compassionate benefactress, despite frantic
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 351
reflections, something that must not be surprising in a city
like Berlin or even Munich. To this is added further that
the persons involved are frequently visitors from the pro-
vinces who in any case face the whole humbug of the big
cities with complete perplexity.
Finally, however, who is able to know whether he is
sick or healthy? Do not numerous cases occur where an
apparently cured person suffers relapses and now causes
the most terrible evil, without himself being aware of it
in the end?
Thus the practical effect of this protection by the legal
penalty of a guilty infection is in reality equal to naught.
Exactly the same can be said of the control of the prosti-
tutes, and finally also the cure itself is still uncertain and
doubtful even today. Only one thing is certain : the disease
spreads more and more despite all the preventive measures
of that time. By this, however, the ineffectiveness of these
measures is proved in the most striking way.
For everything that was done besides this was as ridicu-
lous as it was insufficient. The fight against the prostitu-
tion of the people's soul failed on the entire line; that means
more rightly that here one did nothing at all.
But he who wants to understand this easily need only
study the statistical basic facts about the spreading of this
plague, compare its growth during the last hundred years,
and try to imagine this further development — and he
really would have the simple-mindedness of an ass if then
an uncomfortable chill did not run down his spine.
The weakness and the half-heartedness with which even
then one defined one's attitude towards such a terrible
symptom can be evaluated as a visible sign of the decay of
a people. When the energy for the fight for one's own health
is no longer present, the right of living in this world of strength
begins gradually to withdraw.
It belongs really only to the powerful 'whole' and not
to the weak 'half/
352 MEIN KAMPF
One of the most visible symptoms of the old Reich's
decay was the slow sinking of the general level of culture;
by culture I do not mean what is called today by the word
'civilization.' The latter seems to be, on the contrary,
rather an enemy of true spiritual and living levels.
As early as before the turn of the century an element
began to push its way into our att which up to that time
could be looked upon as entirely alien and unknown. Per-
haps in previous times errors of taste happened some-
times, but the cases involved were artistic derailments to
which posterity at least gave a certain historical value,
rather than products of a degeneration which was no
longer artistic at all but rather senseless. Through them
the political collapse, which later on, of course, became
better visible, began to announce its arrival in the cultural
field.
The bolshevism of art is the only cultural form of life,
Here Hitler states, without philosophical elaboration, the
doctrine which some groups of German intellectuals accepted
as a bridge across which the German mind could pass to Na-
tional Socialism. Civilization means the application of reason
to life, a process which scored its greatest triumphs while
Germany was struggling to emerge from the debris of the
Thirty Years' War — Goethe, Schiller, Kant, not to mention
Lessing and Wieland, are reflections of the Western mind
rather than original creations of the German soul. Even the
great medieval Empire was based upon the triumph of Chris-
tianity. Therefore the patriot prefers to seek out the 'life
forces,' the irrational impulses, which seem to him more chat-
acteristic of the German mind. This decision is sometimes
couched in desperate phraseology: 'When I hear the word
culture,' wrote Hans Johst (the first official Nazi playwright),
1 release the safety catch on my revolver.' And F. G. Jtinger —
that half-mad but gifted poet who eventually found Hitlerism
•tale and unprofitable, and went to prison for having indited,
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 353
and the only intellectual manifestation possible to bolshc-
vism on the whole.
He to whom this may seem strange should only subject
to an examination the art of those States which have had
the good fortune of being bolshevized, and to his horror
he will observe the sickly excrescences of lunatics or of
degenerate people which since the turn of the century we
have learned to know under the collective conception of
cubism or dadaism as the official art of those States. This
phenomenon had become apparent even in the short dura-
tion of the Bavarian Soviet Republic. Even here one
could see how all the official billposters, propaganda draw-
ings in the newspapers, etc., showed the stamp of not
only political, but also that of cultural, decay.
As little as one could imagine about sixty years ago a
political collapse of the greatness now arrived at, just as
little was a cultural breakdown thinkable as it began to
show itself in futuristic and cubistic representations since
1900. Sixty years ago an exhibition of so-called dadaistic
the most violent attack on the Party ever penned inside
Germany — asks, 'Why do we need four walls? One wall is
enough!' The wall is that against which the enemy is stood
and shot. But one is not quite sure that J linger isn't being
ironical. In so far as the philosophers (Klages, Heidegger,
Baumler) are concerned, this development means a revival of
certain aspects of early nineteenth-century idealism, with a
militaristic emphasis. (Cf. Mensch und Erdc, by Dietrich
Klages.)
Hitler's views, re-emphasized in his Munich art lecture of
1937, crystallize in the teaching that there is only one art —
German-Nordic art. All attempts to sunder painting, for
example, into various schools are mistaken. The most impor-
tant exponent of these views is Professor Paul Schultze-
Naumburg, who achieved fame when he was appointed director
354 MEIN KAMPF
'experiences' would have seemed simply impossible, and
the sponsors would have been sent to the madhouse, while
today they even preside in 'artists' unions.' This plague
could not have appeared at that time, because neither
would public opinion have suffered it nor would the State
have looked on quietly. For it is an affair of the State —
that means of the government — to prevent a people from
being driven into the arms of spiritual lunacy. For in
lunacy such a development would end one day. For on
the day that this kind of art were actually to correspond
to the general conception, one of the most severe changes
of mankind would have begun ; the backward development
of the human brain would have begun with this, but one
would hardly be able to conceive the end.
As soon, however, as from this point of view one lets
pass before one's eyes the development of our cultural life
of the Weimar Art School after the Nazi triumph of 1930.
He immediately caused to be removed from the Weimar
Museum all examples of expressionistic art, on the ground that
this was an expression of a mankind subnormal from the racial
point of view. Later on he delivered what was then considered
a startling address, claiming that race dictated one's response
to art, and that anyone who found esthetic pleasure in expres-
sionism was not a German. Schultze-Naumburg contends
that an artist cannot help reproducing 'the most signal racial
characteristics of his own figure.' Therefore distortions, as
practiced by the modernists, imply that the painter or sculptor
is himself deformed in a racial sense. Many Nazis have ac-
cepted these teachings with a wry grimace, pointing out that
on such a basis the museums ought also to be cleansed of
primitive, Egyptian, Byzantine, and even Italian art. On the
subject of music, Hitler has been equally categorical: To me
a single German military march is worth more than all the
junk of these new musicians — these people belong in a
sanatorium.*
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 355
in the past twenty-five years, one will be shocked at seeing
how far we already are on the way to this backward devel-
opment. Everywhere we meet germs that represent the
beginning of excrescences by which our culture is bound to
perish sooner or later. Also, we are able to recognize in
them the symptoms of decay of a slowly rotting world.
Woe to the nations which are no longer able to master
this disease !
One was able to find such diseases in almost all domains
of art and general culture in Germany. Here everything
seemed to have already passed the climax and to hurry
towards the abyss. The theater sank visibly deeper and it
would probably have retired completely as a cultural factor
even then, had not at least the Court Theaters turned
against this prostitution of art. If one leaves these and a
few praiseworthy exceptions out of account, the perform-
ances of the stage were such that for the sake of the nation
it would have been more useful to avoid visiting them en-
tirely.^- It was a sorrowful sign of inner decay that one no
longer might send the young people to most of these so-
called 'abodes of art,' which was openly and shamelessly
admitted with the general warning of the penny arcades
1 Children are not admitted ! '
One should consider that one had to take such precau-
tions in those places which primarily should exist for the
education of youth and not for the amusement of old blast
generations. What would the great dramatists of all times
have said to such a rule and what, above all, about the cir-
cumstances which gave the causes for them? How would
perhaps a Schiller have flared up and a Goethe have turned
away in indignation!
However, what are Schiller, Goethe, or Shakespeare as
compared with the 'heroes' of the new German dramatic
art? Old, worn-out, and outlived, nay, 'conquered' types.
For this was the characteristic of this time: not that it
356 MEIN KAMPF
itself produced only dirt; what is more, it sullied everything
that was really great in the past. This is, however, a
symptom which one can see always at such times. The
more villainous and wretched are the products of a time
and its people, the more one hates the witnesses of a former
greater time and dignity. But most of all in such times
one would like to eliminate altogether the memory of the
past of mankind, in order to disguise thus, by the exclusion
of every possibility of comparison, one's own trash as
'art.' For this reason, the more wretched and miserable
any new institution is, the more will it endeavor to extin-
guish even the last traces of past times, whereas any really
valuable renovation of mankind can also continue, with
an easy mind, the good achievements of past generations,
even often now tries to make them stand out. Then it has
no fear to fade perhaps as compared with the past, but
for its own part it makes such a valuable contribution to
the general treasure of human culture that often, for the
very evaluation of the latter, it wishes to keep awake the
memory of the former achievements in order to secure thus
all the more the full understanding of the present for the
new donation. Only he who is not able to give anything
valuable out of himself to the world, but tries to act as
though he wants to give it God knows what, will hate
Yet oddly enough it is precisely Goethe who, by reason of
his bourgeois background, is today characteristic of the 'civi-
lization' which the Nazi Revolution discountenances. Some-
times he has been hated because foreigners relish his poetry;
sometimes he has been tossed aside scornfully as the 'man
without a musket.' The first generation of Nazi philosophers —
Rosenberg, Klages — still numbered him among the nation's
great. The second generation no longer reads him. Hauer's
attempt to make him the 'prophet of the new German religion"
has failed.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 357
everything that has already been given and would most
of all like to deny it or even to destroy it.
t This may be said not only for 'novelties' in the domain
of general culture, but also for those of politics. Revolu-
tionary new movements, the more inferior they themselves
are, the more will they hate the old form. Also here one
can see how the striving to make one's own trash appear
as something leads to blind hatred towards the superior
good of the past. As long as, for example, the historical
memory of a Frederick the Great has not died, a Friedrich
Ebert is only able to create moderate astonishment. The
hero of Sans Souci is to the former barkeeper of Bremen
approximately like the sun is to the moon. Only when the
rays of the sun are gone is the moon able to shine. There-
fore, the hatred of all new moons of humanity towards
their fixed stars is only too understandable. In political
life such naughts usually, if Fate throws the reign tempo-
rarily into their laps, not only soil and stain the past with
untiring zeal, but they also withdraw themselves, by ex-
treme measures, from general criticism. As an example for
this the protective legislation of the Republic may be
considered.
If, therefore, any new idea, a new doctrine, a view of life
or also a political as well as an economic movement tries to
deny the entire past, or wants to deride it and to make it
valueless, for this reason alone one has to be extremely
cautious and mistrusting. In most cases the reason for
This attack on Ebert, first President of the Republic, is
entirely in the spirit of the conservative opposition, which
forgot that Ludendorff had said hopefully, 'Ebert will manage.'
The laws referred to were passed after the murder of Rathenau
to protect the government and its officials against arbitrary
attacks from Rightist organizations. Spengler inveighs against
them in much the same way.
358 MEIN KAMPF
such hatred is either one's own inferiority or even an evil
intention in itself. A genuinely blissful renovation of man-
kind would always and forever have to continue to build
in that place where the last foundation ends. It will not
have to be ashamed of using existing truths. The entire
human culture, as well as man himself, is only the result of
one long single development, during which every genera-
tion added to, and built in, its building stones. The mean-
ing and the aim of revolutions is not to wreck the entire
building, but rather to take away unsuitable stuff which
has been badly fitted in and to continue to build on and
add to the healthy spot that has been made free.
Thus alone will one be able and allowed to speak of a
progress of mankind. In the other case the world is never
redeemed from chaos, as the right of rejection of the past
would fall to every generation, and with this every genera-
tion would be allowed, as the presupposition for its own
work, to destroy the works of the past.
The saddening fact of the deterioration of our culture
of the pre-War time lay, however, not only in the complete
impotency of the artistic and generally cultural creative
force, but rather in the hatred with which the memory of
the greater past was soiled and extinguished. In nearly
all domains of art, and especially of the theater and of
literature, one began to produce less important novelties at
the turn of the century, in order, however, to deride instead
the best old creations and to present them as inferior and
conquered, as though this period of the most shameful
inferiority would be at all able to 'conquer' anything. Out
of this striving to remove the past out of the sight of the
present, the evil intention of these 'apostles' of the future
could clearly and distinctly be seen. From this one should
have recognized that one had to deal, not with certain cul-
tural intentions, even though they were wrong, but with
a process of destruction of the basis of culture as a whole,
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 359
and with a ridiculing of sound art appreciation, made
possible by this — and with the intellectual preparation
for political bolshevism. For if the time of Pericles appears
incorporated in the Parthenon, so does the bolshevistic
present in a cubistic grimace.
In this connection one has also to point to the cowardice
which again becomes visible through this — of part of our
people which by virtue of its education and its position
should have been obliged to make front against this cul-
tural disgrace. Out of pure fear of the clamor of these
bolshevistic art apostles who most violently attacked and
nailed down as an old-fashioned philistine everyone who
did not want to recognize in them the crown of creation,
one renounced any serious resistance and gave in to what
seemed inevitable after all. One was seized with genuine
fear of being denounced for lack of understanding by these
half-wits or scoundrels; as though it were a^disgrace not to
understand the products of intellectual degenerates or
cunning deceivers. These disciples of culture, however,
The hatred of expressionism — which had its roots in
Nietzsche — is bound up in Hitler's mind with admiration foi
Wagner's writings on art. The composer of Gotierddmmerung
was a great musician, but he was in some ways a philistine;
and it was against that philistinism that Nietzsche protested
bitterly. Speaking in Dresden in 1848, Wagner said: 'What is
the German thing? It is, it must be, the right thing!' In the
apotheosis of Germanism which Wagner represents, Chamber-
lain found a living justification of his theories. And through
Chamberlain (whom he once met in Bayreuth, and from whom
he received an emphatic endorsement) Hitler has learned how
to expound Wagner. In a Wagnerian universe, there is room
for expressionism ( which the war experience greatly furthered)
because there is no nakedness of soul in Wagnerianism. There
is only soulfulness — a great quality, but one tinged constantly
in the damp that rises from the waters of banality.
360 MEIN KAMPF
had a very simple means to stamp their nonsense into
God knows how enormous an affair by presenting to the
astonished world as so-called 'inner experience* any unin-
telligible and visibly crazy stuff, taking in this cheap man-
ner the word of reply from the mouths of most people at
the start. For there was no reason to doubt that this also
could be an inner experience, but one could doubt whether
it was permissible to put before the same world the hal-
lucinations of insane people or criminals. The works of a
Moritz von Schwind or of a Boecklin were also an 'inner
experience' at that, of artists endowed with the grace of
God, and not of fools.
But here one could so well study the miserable cowardice
of our so-called ' intelligentsia ' which shuns every serious
resistance against this poisoning of the sound instinct of
our people and left it to the people itself to be content with
this impudent nonsense. In order not to be considered
lacking in art understanding, one took then every derision
of art into the bargain in order to become finally actually
uncertain in the judgment of good or bad.
Taken all in all, these were signs of a world getting worse
and worse.
As a doubtful symptom the following has to be stated :
During the nineteenth century our cities began to lose
more and more the character of 'culture places' in order to
sink to mere 'human settlements.' The weak connection
which our present-day proletariat of our big cities has
with its dwelling-place is just the consequence of the fact
that here really only the accidental local place of residence
of the individual is involved and nothing else. This is
partly connected with the frequent change of residence,
caused by the social conditions, which does not grant
sufficient time to man for closer connection with his city,
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 361
and partly the cause of this must be sought also in the
general cultural unimportance and poverty of our present
cities themselves.
Still at the time of the Wars of Liberation, the German
cities were not only few in number but also modest in size.
The few really big cities were for the greatest part Court
cities, and as such they possessed nearly always a certain
cultural value and mostly also a certain artistic picture.
The few places of more than fifty thousand inhabitants
were, as compared with cities of the same population today,
rich in scientific and artistic treasures. When Munich
counted sixty thousand souls, it began to become one of
the first German art centers ; today nearly every manufac-
turing place has reached, if not even exceeded, this figure
many times, without, however, sometimes being able to
call its own even the most humble of genuine values. Pure
collections of flats and dwelling-houses, nothing more.
How, with such lack of importance, a special attachment to
these places can originate must be a riddle. Nobody will
be specially attached to a city which has nothing else to
offer than what any other city has; one which lacks any
individual touch and where everything is carefully avoided
that could even look like art or something similar.
But, as if this were not enough, the really big cities also
become poorer and poorer in works of art, in proportion
with the rising increase in the number of population. They
appear more and more polished off and they present ex-
actly the same picture, though on a larger scale, as the
small and miserable factory towns. What modern times
added to the cultural contents of our big cities was com-
pletely insufficient. All our cities feast on the glory
and the treasures of the past. It takes from the Munich
of today everything that was created under the reign of
Ludwig I ; one will be shocked at seeing how poor the addi-
tion of important artistic creations since that time is. The
368 MEIN KAMPF
same applies to Berlin and to most of the other big cities.
The essential thing, however, is nevertheless the follow-
ing: our present big cities have no monuments, dominating
the entire picture of the city, which could somehow be
called the symbol of the time. But this was the case in the
cities of old, since nearly all of them had a special monument
of its pride. The characteristic of the antique city was not
found in the private buildings, but in the monuments of
the community which seemed destined not for the moment
but for eternity, for they were supposed to reflect not the
riches of the individual owner but rather the greatness
and the importance of the community. Thus monuments
originated which were suited to attach the individual in-
habitant to his city in a manner which today seems to us
sometimes almost incomprehensible. For what he had
before his eyes were not the miserable houses of private
owners but the magnificent buildings of the whole commun-
ity. Compared with them the living house was actually
reduced to an insignificant object of secondary importance.
For, only when comparing the dimensions of the antique
State buildings with the contemporary private houses will
one understand the overpowering sweep and force of this
stress on the viewpoint to allot the first place to the public
works. What today we admire in the wreckage and fields
of ruins of the old world as the few still outstanding colos-
Buses are not business palaces of the time but temples and
State buildings; that means works the owner of which was
the public. Even in the splendor of the later Rome, first
place was not taken by the villas and the palaces of indi-
vidual citizens, but by the temples and the thermae, the
All this has now been changed. Munich has its Kunsthalle,
Berlin its new Chancellery and Olympic Village. Millions
have been spent on such buildings, and unlimited millions
mav still be poured out.
i
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 363
staia, circuses, aqueducts, basilicas, etc., of the State;
that means of the entire people/*
Even the Germanic Middle Ages maintained this point
of view, though also under quite different conceptions of
art as the leading principle. That which in antiquity found
its expression in the Acropolis or in the Pantheon, now clad
itself in the forms of the Gothic cathedrals. Like giants
they stood out over the swarm of small frameworks, wooden
or brick buildings of the medieval town, and thus they
became symbols which today still define the character and
the picture of these places, while at their sides the tene-
ment-house blocks climb higher and higher. Cathedrals,
town halls, and grain markets, as well as watch-towers, are
the visible sign of a conception which ultimately cor-
responded to that of antiquity.
But how truly miserable the relation between State and
private buildings has become today. If Berlin were to meet
the fate of Rome, then the coming generations could one
day admire the department stores of some Jews, and the
hotels of some corporations the most imposing works of
our time, as the characteristic expression of the culture of
our days. Compare, therefore, the unfavorable disparity
that prevails, even in a city like Berlin, between the build-
ings of the Reich and those of finance and commerce.
Even the amount of money allotted to the State buildings
is in most cases truly ridiculous and insufficient. No works
are created for eternity, but at the most those for the
momentary need. No higher idea is at all predominant in
this. The Schloss of Berlin was at the time it was built
quite a different work from perhaps the new Library in
the frame of the present. While one single battleship repre-
sented a value of around sixty millions, hardly half of this
amount was granted for the first magnificent building of
the Reich, which was intended for eternity, the Reichstag
Building. Indeed, when the question of the interior deco-
364 MEIN KAMPF
ration was decided upon, the 'high' House voted against
the use of stone, it ordered the walls trimmed with plaster;
and this time the 'parliamentarians' had acted correctly
for once: plaster heads do not belong between walls of stone.
Thus our cities of the present lack the outstanding symbol
of national community, and hence it is no wonder that
the community does not see any symbol of itself in its
cities. This must lead to a spiritual dullness which mani-
fests itself in practice in a wholesale indifference of the
present-day city dweller towards the lot of his city.
This also is a sign of our declining culture and of our
general collapse. The time is suffocated in petty expedi-
ency, in other words, in the service of money. Thus one
must not be surprised if under such a deity little under-
standing for heroism remains. The present only harvests
that which the immediate past has sown.
All these symptoms of decay are ultimately only conse-
quences of the lack of a certain, commonly acknowledged
view of life and of the general uncertainty in the judgment,
and the definition of an attitude towards the various
great questions of the time, resulting from it. Therefore,
everything, beginning with education, is half-hearted and
wavering, shuns responsibility and ends thus in cowardly
tolerance of even recognized evils. Dreamy humaneness
becomes the fashion, and by a weak surrender to the ex-
crescences and in sparing the individuals, one sacrifices in
turn the future of millions.-*
How much the general destruction spread is also appar-
ent when looking at the religious conditions before the
War. Here too, uniform and effective convictions, through
a view of life, had long been lost in great parts of the nation.
In this the adherents, freeing themselves officially from
the Church, play a less important r61e than those who are
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 365
indifferent as a whole. While both denominations keep up
missions in Asia and Africa, in order to lead new followers
to the doctrine (an activity, which, compared with the
advance of the Mohammedan faith, can show only very
modest successes), in Europe proper they lose millions and
again millions of adherents of inner homogeneousness, who
now face religious life either as strangers or at least walk
ways of their own. The consequences, especially as regards
morality, are unfavorable ones.
Remarkable is also the more and more violent fight
begun against the dogmatic fundamentals of the various
churches, without which, however, the practical existence
of a religious faith is unthinkable in this world of man.
The great masses of a people do not consist of philosophers,
and it is just for them that faith is frequently the sole basis
of a moral view of life. The various substitutes have not
proved so useful in their success that one would be able to
see in them a useful exchange for the former religious
creeds. But if religious doctrine and faith are really meant
to seize the great masses, then the absolute authority of
the contents of this faith is the basis of all effectiveness.
What, then, the customary style of living is for general
This is the reverse of 'religion is the opium of the people.1
Rauschning (cf . his Revolution des Nihilismus) has pointed out
Hitler's deep respect for the Catholic Church and in particular
for the Society of Jesus. In this he resembles Auguste Comte,
who once proposed a liaison between Positivism and Rome.
Both sundered their admiration from any kind of belief.
Hitler praises the ability (as he sees it) of the Church to keep
on resolutely proclaiming an article of faith, however powerful
the arguments arrayed against it may be. If the nation can
build dogmas about its new 'myth' and propagate them aa
stubbornly, it may (so it is thought) give Germany a new faith,
which the masses will cherish as tenaciously as they have until
latterly cherished Christianity.
366 MEIN KAMPF
life, without which certainly hundreds of thousands ol
well-bred people would live sensibly and wisely, but mil-
lions of others certainly would not, the organic laws are
for the State and dogma is for religion. Only by this is the
wavering and infinitely interpretable, purely spiritual idea
definitely limited and brought into a shape, without which
it could never become faith. In the other case, the idea
would never grow beyond a metaphysical conception, in
short, beyond a philosophical opinion. The attack upon
the dogma in itself resembles, therefore, very strongly also
the fight against the general legal fundamentals of the
State, and, just as the latter would find its end in a com-
plete anarchy of the State, thus the other in a worthless
religious nihilism.
But for the politician the estimation of the value of a
religion must be decided less by the deficiencies which it
perhaps shows than by the presence of a visibly better
substitute. As long as there is no apparent substitute, that
which is present can be demolished only by fools or by
criminals.
Of course, not the smallest share of the guilt of the
unenjoyable religious conditions lies with those who burden
the religious conception too much with worldly things,
An attack on the Center Party, the official spokesmen for
which were often priests and prelates. The fact that a Catholic
Party entered into a coalition with Social Democracy in the
Reich and in several States was described as a 'betrayal* of
Christian principles not only by Right radicals with axes to
grind, but also by a number of wealthy and conservative
Catholics. As a matter of fact, that collaboration not only had
the sanction of the highest ecclesiastical authorities in the land
but was unimpeachable on any basis. The 'liberalism' of the
'political Catholics' was a favorite shibboleth among Jew
baiters.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 367
thus bringing it frequently into a quite unnecessary con-
flict with so-called exact science. Here the victory will,
though after a serious struggle, nearly always fall to the
latter, but religion will suffer serious damage in the eyes
of all those who are not able to raise themselves above
purely outward knowledge.
But worse than all are the devastations which are brought
about by the abuse of religious convictions for political
purposes. One can really not proceed too sharply against
those wretched profiteers who like to see in religion an
instrument which may render them political, or rather com-
mercial, services. These impudent liars, however, shout
their creed into the world with a stentorian voice so that
the other sinners can surely hear it, but not in order to die
for it, if necessary, but in order to live better. For one
single political job they offer the meaning of an entire
faith for sale; for ten parliamentary mandates they ally
themselves with the Marxist mortal enemies of all reli-
gion — and for one minister's seat they would certainly
also marry the Devil, in so far as the latter would not be
deterred by a remnant of decency.
If in pre-War Germany the religious life had for many
an after-taste, this was attributable to the misuse which
was inflicted on Christianity on the part of a so-called
1 Christian ' party, as well as to the impudence with which
one tried to identify the Catholic faith with a political party.
This substitution was a fatality which perhaps brought
parliamentary seats to a number of good-for-nothings, but
injury to the Church.
The result, however, had to be borne by the whole
nation, as the consequences of the loosening of religious life
caused by this occurred just in a time when everything
began to give way and to change, anyhow, and when the
traditional fundamentals of behavior and moralitv threat-
ened to collapse.
368 MEIN KAMPF
This, too, represented cracks and rifts in our national
body which might well be harmless as long as no special
strain occurred, but which were bound to cause disaster
whenever, by the impetus of great events, the question
of the inner solidarity of the nation became of decisive
importance.
*
Also in the field of politics, when looked at with observant
eyes, there were evils which might and must appear as
symptoms of a coming decay of the Reich, provided no
improvement or change were soon brought about. The
aimlessness of German domestic and foreign politics was
visible to anyone who did not deliberately wish to be blind.
The business of compromise seemed to agree most of all
with Bismarck's opinion that ' politics is the art of the pos-
sible.' Now, however, there was just a slight difference
between Bismarck and German chancellors who followed,
which permitted the former to drop such a remark about
the nature of politics, while the same opinion out of the
mouths of his successors was bound to assume quite a
different significance. For Bismarck only wished to express
with this sentence that, in order to reach a certain political
goal, all possibilities may be applied, or, one can proceed
according to all possibilities; but his successors saw in this
utterance only the solemn exemption from the necessity of
having political thoughts or even aims at all. But political
aims were really no longer present at that time for the
leading authorities of the Reich; because for this the neces-
sary foundation of a view of life and the necessary clarity
on the laws of inner development of political life as a whole
were missing.
There were not a few to whom the prospects in this
direction appeared dim and who castigated the planless-
ness and thoughtlessness of the policy of the Reich, and
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 369
were, accordingly, very well aware of its inner weakness and
hollowness, but they were only the outsiders of political
life; the official authorities of the government passed by
the observations of a Houston Stewart Chamberlain just
as indifferently as this is still the case with us today. These
people are too stupid to think for themselves, and too vain
to learn which is necessary from others. Thus one sees
incorporated in almost every councillor of the ministry
an atom of that eternal truth which caused Oxenstierna to
exclaim: 'The world is ruled only by a fraction of wisdom.'
(This is no longer the case since Germany has become a
republic. Therefore, it has also been forbidden by the law
for the Protection of the Republic to believe, or even to
discuss, anything like that. But Oxenstierna was lucky that
he lived at that time and not in this wise republic of today.)
As early as in pre-War times, that institution was recog-
nized in which the strength of the Reich was to incorporate
itself as the greatest weakness: the parliament, the Reich-
stag. Here cowardice and irresponsibility presented them-
selves in a rarely finished type.
It is one of the greatest thoughtless observations which
one may hear not infrequently, especially in these days,
that in Germany parliamentarism 'has failed since the
Revolution.' By this the appearance is only too easily
given as though this had perhaps not been the case before
the Revolution. But this institution can in reality have no
other effect than a devastating one — and this at a time
when most people, still clad with blinders, did not or did
not want to see anything. For, that Germany actually
was crushed was not a little due to this institution, but that
the catastrophe had not occurred before cannot be con-
sidered as the merit of the Reichstag, but was attributable
to the resistance which, still in the years of peace, con-
fronted the activity of this gravedigger of the German
nation and the German Reich.
370 MEIN KAMPF
Out of the vast number of devastating evils which came
forth from, or were caused by, this institution, 1 will point
only to a single one which, however, exhibits most of all Ac
inner nature of this most irresponsible institution of all
times. The terrible half measures and weakness of the
political guidance of the Reich in domestic and foreign
affairs was due primarily to the working of the Reichstag;
it became one of the chief causes of the political collapse.
Half measure was everything that in any way was sub-
ject to the influence of this parliament, no matter how one
looks at it.
Half measure and weak was the Reich's policy of alliances
in foreign politics. While thus one wanted to preserve peace,
one was bound to drive unresistingly towards war.
Half measure was furthermore the policy towards Poland.
The restraint of this passage is noteworthy. Prior to the
War, the energetic Germanizing of Poland Was fostered by such
men as Dr. Hugenberg, afterward leader of the Nationalist
Party and pivot man in the deal which put Hitler in power.
Disgusted with the failure of the pre-War Prussian government
to stamp out all Polish opposition, Hugenberg resigned as an
official, became a director of Krupp, and there made himself
the systematic mole who ate away the financial underpinning
of large portions of the German press and then boasted that he
could make Germany read whatever he wanted it to read. After
the War he took up the same work anew. Sums gathered from
Chambers of Commerce, etc., to 'fight Bolshevism' were
diverted into the purchases of daily and weekly papers until
Hugenberg, as the controlling influence in the Scherl-Verlag,
had under his thumb a multitude of German metropolitan and
provincial dailies. He also acquired UFA, largest German film
concern, which has more recently become the property of the
German government.
After 1922 — when the Polish uprisings, intended to wrest
from Germany more territory than the peace treaties had taken
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 971
One irritated without, however, ever proceeding seriously.
The result was neither a reconciliation with the Poles nor
a German victory, but instead enmity with Russia.
Half measure was the solution of the question of Alsace-
from her were in full swing — Germany was again characterized
by a resentment of Polish activities which often contrasted
strangely with efforts to regulate the trade and minority
problems. The Corridor, a strip of territory separating East
Prussia from the main portion of the Reich and leading to the
new harbor city of Gdynia, was considered a major political
problem, and the fate of Danzig was kept dangling before the
consciousness of the League of Nations. But when Hitler came
to power, an attempt was made to counter Polish opposition by
establishing friendly relations with that country. It was pointed
out that after all both countries enjoyed the blessings of
dictatorship. Many predicted that the Poles and the Germans
would march arm in arm to the conquest of Russia.
The Poles, however, were playing a difficult and crafty
game. For a time they appeared to have rather the better of it.
They kept a protecting hand over the Polish minority in
Danzig, and at the same time did not relax the pressure that was
brought to bear on German minority groups in Poland. It was
the annexation of Austria that first tipped the scales in Hitler's
favor. Almost immediately there appeared in various parts of
the diplomatic world a ' memorandum ' purporting to be a plan
for a 'Catholic group* of States in Central Europe, running
from Italy through Croatia and Hungary to Slovakia and
Poland. When the Czechoslovakian crisis was settled by giving
Hitler what he wanted, the Poles acted quickly, but were unable
to secure what, perhaps, they most needed — a clear route tc
the South. They did acquire the Teschen region, which is
doubtless the richest morsel taken from the State once so hope-
fully created by Masaryk and Wilson. But the inability of
Slovakia and Hungary to reach a modus vivendi blocked any
further progress. Most of the inhabitants ceded to Hungary
changed their allegiance most unwillingly; and on both sides
372 MEIN KAMPF
Lorraine. Instead of smashing with brutal fists once and
for all times the head of the French hydra, or granting
equal rights to the Alsatian, one did neither. (One was not
even able to do so, because in the ranks of the greatest
of the new boundaries the strange phenomenon of a National
Socialism making great headway among the peasants — though
they were Slavs or Maygars — completely changed the situa-
tion. The swastika became a popular symbol. To some extent
this was due to propaganda, but a more important factor was
the feeling that under Hitler agriculture would be more prosper-
ous, Jewry at a disadvantage, and all Leftist theories of social
improvement for the masses abrogated.
Poland tried very hard to effect the separation of Ruthenia
from Czechoslovakia. So far it has failed. Far more significant,
however, is the fact that the collapse of Prague as a center of
military strength has radically altered the position of Poland.
Its major natural resources and its armament manufactories
are in the West, within range of German heavy artillery.
Therefore its very good army (many rank its infantry with the
best in Europe) was left dangling by a thread, and it had
perforce to seek safety by trying to improve relations with
Russia. The implications of the Ukrainian question have
already been discussed, but one may add in addition that
German control of Czechoslovakia can make this a haven for
Ukrainian separatist agitators.
Therefore Poland is imperiled. It is difficult to see why
Warsaw could desire the dismemberment of the State on its
southern boundaries, even if Teschen was a rich and long-
coveted prize. Yet it could hardly be to Germany's advantage
to threaten Poland with war. The cost of such a struggle,
in treasure and possibly also in prestige, would not compensate
for the possible gains, among which reacquisition of the Silesian
coal and ore fields may be listed.
After the War of 1870, Alsace-Lorraine was incorporated
in the new German Empire; it eventually became an Imperial
domain. The Alsatians did not conceal their desire for au-
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 373
parties there sat also the greatest traitors to the country.
In the Center Party, for instance, Herr Wetterl6.)
But all this would still have been bearable if that power
had not also fallen victim to the general half measures,
that power on the existence of which finally the existence
of the Reich depended : the army.
The way in which the so-called 'German Reichstag' had
sinned here is enough alone to burden it for all times with
the curse of the German nation. For the most wretched
tonomy, which in many cases was more strictly a wish to
return to France. Bismarck wisely refused to exert untoward
pressure, believing that after a few generations the feeling
would die out of its own accord. Nevertheless, he permitted
himself to be involved in the Kulturkampf, and therewith
also in ambitious programs for Protestantizing Catholic Alsace.
The University of Strassburg was the symbol of the 'cultural
reconstruction* sponsored by Prussia. Naturally the clergy
now led the opposition, having in Abb6 Haegy a highly gifted
leader. When the Kulturkampf was over, the Center Party
took up the task of cementing relationships between Alsace and
the Reich. It was sometimes sabotaged by the Prussian bu-
reaucracy and the army (witness theZabern incident of 1913),
but was none the less so effective on the whole that the vast
majority of Alsatians fought loyally for Germany during the War
and afterward became autonomists as a result of their opposi-
tion to the annexation by France decreed by the Treaty of
Versailles. Hitlerism abruptly broke off this development,
although as a result of the Blum policies a new wave of opposi-
tion arose during 1936. The Abb6 Wetterl6 was the leader of
those who after the War welcomed enthusiastically the coming
of the French.
Very considerable Nazi propaganda efforts were uncovered
in Alsace, especially in Strassburg, during 1938. The appeal
seems to have been made on the basis of relative economic
prosperity. Peasants in particular were induced to believe
that a millennium had dawned across the Rhine.
374 MEIN KAMPF
reasons, these parliamentary party rascals have stolen and
struck from the hands of the nation the weapon of self-
preservation, the only protection of the freedom and inde-
pendence of our people. If today the graves of Flanders Field
were to open, out of them would rise the bloody accusers,
hundreds of thousands of the best young Germans, who were
driven into the arms of death, badly and half-trained, due
to the unscrupulousness of these parliamentary criminals;
the fatherland has lost them and millions of cripples and
dead, simply and solely in order to make possible for a few
hundred traitors to the people, political wirepulling, extor-
tion, or even the rattling forth of doctrinary theories.
While Jewry, through its Marxist and democratic press,
proclaimed to the whole world the lie of German 'mili-
tarism' and thus strove to incriminate Germany with all
possible means, the same parties refused any large-scale
training of the strength of the German people. Thus the
enormous crime which was brought about by this must at
once become clear to everyone who even stops to think
that in case of a coming war the entire nation would have
to take up arms, that therefore by the rascality of these
nice representatives of their own so-called 'representation
of the people ' millions of Germans would be driven towards
the enemy with bad, insufficient, or half-finished training.
But even if one does not take into consideration at all the
consequences of the brutal and rude unscrupulousness of
the parliamentary panders, brought about in this manner,
one must nevertheless not forget that the shortage of
trained soldiers could easily lead, at the beginning of a war,
The pre-War Reichstag had the power to veto budget ap-
propriations. It is not correct to say that it hampered the de-
velopment of the army of the ill-starred navy, though certain
extreme demands put foward by Pan-Germanists were not
found acceptable.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 375
to losing that war, something that happened in the great
World War in such a terrible manner.
The loss of the fight for the freedom and independence of
the German nation is the result of the half measures and
the weakness carried out even in peace in drafting the
entire force of the people for the defense of the fatherland.
t If too few recruits were trained on land, the same half
measures were at work at sea, so that the weapon of na-
tional self-preservation was made more or less worthless.
Unfortunately, however, here the heads of the navy them-
selves were infected by this poison. The tendency to build
all ships, on the stocks, always a little smaller than the
English ships launched from the stocks at the same time,
waa little farseeing and still less ingenious. A navy which
from the beginning cannot be brought to the same level
with its prospective enemy, purely in terms of numbers,
must try to replace the lack in numbers by the superior
fighting power of the single ships. It is the superior fighting
power that matters and not a legendary superior 'quality/
which is nonsense as long as it does not express itself in
fighting power. In fact, modern technique has now ad-
vanced to such an extent and has arrived at so great a
uniformity in the various civilized States that it must be
considered impossible to give to the ships of one power
a considerably greater fighting value than to the ships of
the same tonnage of another State. But it is far less con-
ceivable to attain superiority with smaller displacement
as compared with a greater.
Indeed, the small tonnage of the German ships could be
brought about only at the expense of speed and armament.
The phrase with which one now tries to justify this fact
shows, however, a very serious lack of logic on the part
of the authority which was responsible for this in peace
376 MEIN KAMPF
times. For one explained that the material of the German
guns was so visibly superior to that of the British that the
German 28 cm. gun barrel did not fall behind the British
30.5 cm. barrel in firing efficiency!!
But just for this reason it would have been the duty
now also to change over to the 30.5 cm. cannon, as the goal
should not have been to reach the same, but a superior,
fighting power. Otherwise the ordering of the 42 cm. mortar
would have been superfluous as the German 21 cm. mortar
was in itself superior to any French high-angled cannon,
present at that time, but the forts would have fallen also
before the 30.5 cm. cannon. The leaders of the land army
thought correctly, but those of the navy unfortunately
did not.
The abandonment of a superior effect of the artillery as
well as of a superior speed was founded entirely in the
so-called 'idea of risk,' which was basically wrong. The
heads of the navy, by the very form of its construction, re-
nounced the offensive and thus necessarily stressed the
defensive. But with this one also renounced ultimate suc-
cess, which lies, and can lie forever, only in the offensive.
A ship with less speed and weaker armature will in most
It would be difficult to buttress these assertions with facts.
It is surely not the fault of the Reichstag that the Admiralty
adopted a type of gun later found inadequate. As a matter
of fact, not a few Reichstag delegates — notably Matthias
Erzberger — were almost pathetic in their efforts to induce
Admiral von Tirpitz to speed up armament. The development
of naval aviation was urged in particular. But Tirpitz, who
did not wish to commit himself to any instrument of war until
its efficiency had been established, was slow to act. In the
end he was, of course, found to have guessed wrong. Believing
that the War would necessarily be of brief duration, he had
supposed that the British fleet would attack in the North Sea.
and had not reckoned with the blockade.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 377
cases be sent to the bottom by the speedier and more
heavily armed enemy with the firing distance which is more
favorable to the latter. Quite a number of our cruisers had
to experience this in the bitterest manner. However, the
War showed how absolutely wrong was this opinion of the
heads of the navy in peace time which, wherever possible,
forced us to change the armature of the old, or to improve
that of the new, ships. But if in the battle of the Skagerrak
the German ships had had the same tonnage, the same
armament, and the same speed as the British ships, then,
under the hurricane of the better-hitting German 38 cm,
shells, the British fleet would have sunk into a watery grave.
Japan at one time had carried out a different policy for
her navy. There one principally stressed the point of having
in each single new ship a superior fighting power against
the prospective enemy. This corresponded to the possi-
bility of utilizing the navy in the offensive.
While the leaders of the land][army still kept themselves
free from such fundamentally wrong trains of thought, the
navy, which unfortunately was represented * parliamenta-
rily ' in a better way, succumbed also to the mentality of this
institution. It was organized by halfway viewpoints and
was later on also used according to similar ones. What
nevertheless appeared in the form of immortal glory was
attributable only to the solid German craftsmanship as
well as to the ability and the incomparable heroism of the
various officers and crews. But if the former headquarters
of the navy had also been up to this in ingenuity, the sacri-
fices would not have been in vain.
Thus perhaps it was just the superior parliamentary
ability of the leading head of the navy in peace time that
turned out to be its misfortune, since, unfortunately also
in its structure, instead of purely military viewpoints,
parliamentary viewpoints began to play the decisive r61e.
The half measures and the weakness, as well as the scanty
378 MEIN KAMPF
logic which is the parliamentary institutions9 own, began
to tint also the heads of the navy.
As already pointed out, the land army still refrained
from such trains of thought, which were basically wrong.
Especially the colonel in the Great General Staff of that
time, Ludendorff , led a desperate fight against the criminal
half measures and weakness with which the Reichstag
faced the vital questions of the nation, and mostly denied
them. If the battle which this officer fought at that time
was nevertheless futile, the fault rested half upon parlia-
ment, but half upon the, if possible, still more wretched
attitude and weakness of the Reichs-Chancellor Bethmann-
Hollweg. But this does not in the least hinder the culprits
of the German collapse from trying to attribute today the
guilt to the very man who alone turned against this negli-
gent treatment of national interests. (One betrayal more
or less never makes any difference to these born wire-
pullers.)
He who thinks over all these sacrifices which were bur-
dened upon the nation by the criminal carelessness of these
most unscrupulous men, he who leads before his eyes all
the dead and the cripples, sacrificed in vain, as well as the
boundless disgrace and dishonor, the unspeakable misery
which now has met us, and he who knows that all this came
only in order to open the way towards the minister's seat
for a crowd of unscrupulously pushing persons and job-
hunters, will also understand that one can call these crea-
tures really only by words like scoundrel, villain, rascal,
and criminal, because otherwise the meaning and the pur-
pose of the existence of these expressions in the usage of
the language would be incomprehensible. For, in compari-
son with these traitors to the nation, every pimp is a gentle-
man.
. THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 379
But it is strange that all real shadow sides of the old
Germany caught the eye only whenever by this the inner
solidarity of the nation had to suffer injury. Indeed, in
such cases, the disagreeable truths were simply shouted out
to the great masses, while otherwise one preferred shame-
fully to pass by in silence many things, even partly to deny
them. This was the case whenever an improvement could
perhaps have been carried out by public treatment of a
question. In addition, the authoritative parties of the
government understood next to nothing of the value and
the nature of propaganda. That by propaganda, with
permanent and clever application, even heaven can be
palmed off on a people as hell, and, the other way round,
the most wretched life as paradise, this only the Jew knew,
who then acted accordingly; the German, or rather his
government, had not the faintest idea of this.
This was to take its most serious revenge during the War.
All the numerous evils of the German life before the
War, as pointed out here, and others, were set off also by
many advantages. With a just examination one must even
acknowledge that, to a great extent, the other countries
and peoples also called most of our ills their own, and that
Before the War, Germany had relied in the main on industrial
rather than investment expansion. Branch plants were es-
tablished in well-nigh all foreign countries; centers of trade
influence were built up, often at great cost. When the War
was lost, it was argued that the friendship which had bound
the Allied countries together was a consequence of the financial
ties which existed between them. A favorite thesis has been,
for example, that Germany's freedom from indebtedness to the
'bankers9 had been a great disadvantage, since no one had
interests at stake inside her boundaries. German Jewish news-
380 MEIN KAMPF
in many things they overshadowed us by far, while they
did not possess many of our actual advantages.
The loremost of these advantages may be said, among
other things, to be the fact that the German people among
nearly all European nations still tried most of all to pre-
serve the national character of its economy, and that,
despite many evil premonitions, it was least of all subject
to the international finance control. A dangerous ad-
vantage, however, which later on also became the greatest
instigator of the World War.
If one sets aside this and many other facts, then three
institutions stand out among the vast number of the healthy
sources of the nation's power which in their kind presented
themselves as exemplary as well as partly unexcelled.
There was first the State form in itself and the dis-
tinct stamp which it had received in the Germany of modern
times.
Here one may set aside the various monarchs, who, as
human beings, could not help being subject to all weak-
nesses which are usually visited upon this world and its
children, for otherwise one would really have to despair al-
together of the present; for the representatives of the pres-
ent regime, looked upon just as personalities, are perhaps
mentally and morally the most modest that one is able to
Imagine, even after prolonged reflection. He who measures
the ' value* of the German Revolution with the value and
the greatness of the personalities which it has given to the
German people since November, 1918, will cover his face
papermen and pacifists were (so ran the tale) employed to
weaken the army of the fatherland. While they undermined
German resistance, their brethren outside stirred up the rest
of the world against Germany. Doubtless no astute Nazi
leader has ever credited these hypotheses, which were designed
for the consumption of the infantile.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 381
in shame before the judgment of posterity which one will
not be able to stop from talking by protective laws, etc.,
and which therefore will say what all of us nevertheless
recognize today, that is, that the brains and the virtues of
our neo-German leaders are in the inverse proportion to the
snouts and vices.
The monarchy was certainly estranged from many, es-
pecially from the great masses of the people. This was the
consequence of the fact that the monarchs were not always
surrounded — let us say by the most brilliant, and particu-
larly not by the most honest, heads. Unfortunately, they
partly preferred the flatterers rather than the straightfor-
ward natures, and therefore they were also ' instructed ' by
flatterers. A very grave evil in a time when the world had
undergone a great change in many old opinions, a change
which now naturally did not stop before the judgment of
many old-established traditions of the Courts.
At the turn of the century, therefore, the common man
and human being was no longer able to show special ad-
miration for a princess clad in a uniform, riding along a
front. It is obvious that one was not able to imagine the
effect of such a parade in the eyes of the people, because
otherwise such unfortunate incidents would probably never
have taken place. Also, the humane dreams of these cir-
cles, which were not always quite genuine, had a repelling
rather than an attractive effect. If, for example, the Prin-
cess X 'deigned' to taste a sample of the food in a people's
kitchen with the wiell-known result, it might perhaps have
looked well enough in former times, but the success at that
time was to the contrary. In this case one may well assume
that Her Highness had really no idea that on the day of her
inspection the food was a little different from that of the
other days ; but it was quite sufficient that the people knew
this.
Thus the best possible intention became ridiculous, if
not actually irritating.
382 MEIN KAMPF
Descriptions of the always proverbial frugality of the
monarch, his much too early rising as well as his veritable
drudgery till late at night, besides, with the continued
danger of his threatening undernourishment, nevertheless
caused very doubtful comments. One certainly did not
want to know what and how much the monarch had the
grace to take in; one did not begrudge him a 'sufficient1
meal; also, one did not set out perhaps to deny him the
necessary sleep; one was content if as a man and as a char-
acter he only honored the name of his house and the nation
and fulfilled his duty as a ruler. The telling of fairy tales
was of little use, and it was all the more harmful.**
However, this and many similar things were only trifles.
But, unfortunately, the conviction that one was ruled any-
how from above, and that the individual need not care for
anything further, had a worse effect on very great parts of
the nation. As long as the government was really good or
at least had the best intentions, things might be all right.
But alas! if in the place of the old government, which in it-
self had good intentions, a new, less decent one, were to
step in, then the irresolute obedience and the childlike
faith were the most serious misfortune conceivable.
But all these and many other weaknesses were set off
also by undeniable values.
There was the stability of the entire State authority,
caused by the monarchistic State form, as well as the
immunizing of the highest State posts from the turmoil of
the speculations of ambitious politicians. Further, the
respectability of the institution in itself, as well as the
authority caused even by this; finally, the uplifting of the
body of officials and especially of the army above the level
of the obligations of political parties. To this was added
the advantage of the personal representation of the head of
the State by the monarch as a person, and the example of
a responsibility which the monarch has to shoulder more
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 313
than the accidental crowd of a parliamentary majority.
(The proverbial incorruptibility of the German administra-
tion was primarily due to this.) But finally the cultural
value of the monarchy was a high one for the German peo-
ple and it was well able to balance other disadvantages.
The German monarchs1 residential towns were still the
abodes of an artistic sense which nevertheless threatens to
die out more and more in our materialistic time. What the
German princes did for art and science even during the
nineteenth century was exemplary. In any case, the present
time must not be compared with this.
t But as the greatest factor of value, in this time of the
beginning and slowly spreading decomposition of our na-
Perhaps the German army is rivaled only by the French
army as an historical institution. Both were developed during
that heyday of European nationalism which coincided with
the French Revolution. Both taught discipline, health, con-
duct. But whereas the French look back upon a national
history more or less continuous since the days of ancient Rome,
the Germany of 1913 was still a country of peoples, almost of
tribes, held together by military leaders. The heroes were
Frederick the Great, Bismarck, Moltke; and however deeply
any citizen might resent drill and warfare, he could not escape
the fact that Germany was the army.
That is why the abdication of the army in 1918 — the trans-
fer of authority and responsibility to a government without a
military foundation — was so appalling even to the men who
took up the burden of government. They had suddenly, in
an hour of demoralizing defeat, to find some principle of unity
which was not military in character. To have succeeded would
have meant, not merely the creation of a new Germany, but
also the creation of a new ideology. And unfortunately most
of the leaders had to face the fact that the majority of their
384 MEIN KAMPF
tional body, we have to list the army. It was the mightiest
school of the German nation, and for no other reason did the
hatred of all enemies direct itself precisely against this
protection of national self-preservation and freedom. One
cannot present a more glorious monument to this unique
institution than the establishment of the truth that it was
calumniated, hated, fought, but also feared, by all inferior
people. That at Versailles the wrath of the international
exploiters of the nation directed itself primarily against the
old German army makes it all the more recognizable as the
protection of the freedom of our people against the power
of the stock exchange. Without this warning power, the
meaning of Versailles would long have been executed upon
our people. What the German people owes to the army may
be simply summed up in one single word, namely: every-
thing.
The army trained for absolute responsibility at a time
when this quality had become very rare and the shunning
of responsibility had more and more become the order of
the day, starting from the model example of all unscrupu-
lousness, the parliament; the army further taught personal
courage in a time when cowardice threatened to become a
spreading disease, and when the willingness to sacrifice, to
stand up for the general welfare, was almost looked upon
as stupidity, and when only he seemed to be clever who un-
derstood best how to spare himself and to advance his own
'ego'; it was the school which still taught the individual
supporters wanted, not something new, but the restoration
of the old. Not to have foreseen these things was the tragic
psychological blunder of Woodrow Wilson — a blunder which
was really worse than a crime. Wilson came from a people
unified, as probably no other people has ever been, by an ac-
cepted tradition of constitutional law; and he imagined that
this happy situation could be exported to other lands.
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 385
German to seek the salvation of the nation, not in the men-
dacious phrases of international fraternity between negroes,
Germans, Chinese, French, British, etc., but rather in the
strength and the unity of his own nationality.
The army taught determination, while otherwise in daily
life lack of determination and doubt began to govern the
actions of people. It actually meant something, at a time
when the super-wise people set the fashion everywhere, of
keeping up the principle that a command is still better than
no command. In this sole principle was contained a still
unspoiled, robust health which would long since have dis-
appeared from the remainder of our life if the army and the
education it gave had not provided for the continued re-
newal of this primordial strength. One only has to see the
terrible lack of determination of our present Reichs leaders
who are not able to pull themselves together, unless they
have to deal with the forced signing of a new dictate of ex-
ploitation; in this case, of course, they decline all responsi-
bility and with the speed of a court stenographer they sign
everything that one may deem fit to put before them, for
in this case the decision is easily taken: it is 'dictated* to
them.-*
The army further taught idealism and devotion to the
fatherland and its greatness, while life had otherwise become
the sole domain of greed and materialism. It educated a
uniform people as compared with the separation into classes,
and here it perhaps showed its only fault, the institution of
the voluntary enlistment for one year. A fault for the rea-
son that the principle of absolute equality was broken and
the man with a higher education was lifted out of the frame
of the general surroundings, while just the contrary would
have been of advantage. With the seclusion from the
world of our upper classes which was so great even then, as
well as the always increasing estrangement from their own
people, the army would have been able to have an especially
386 MEIN KAMPF
beneficial effect if in its ranks at least it avoided every
separation of the so-called 'intelligentsia.9 That this was
not done was a mistake; but what institution in this world
is without mistakes? With this institution the good sides
were predominant to such an extent that the few ills were
far below the average of human imperfection.
But the greatest service of the army of the old Reich was
that, in a time of the general 'counting by majority' of
the heads, it put the heads above the majority. In the face
of the Jewish democratic idea of a blind worship of numbers,
the army upheld the faith in personality. Thus it also bred
what the newer times need most of all: men. Yes, indeed,
in the swamp of a generally spreading softening and ef-
feminacy, out of the ranks of the army there shot up every
year 350,000 vigorous young men who in two years' train-
ing had lost the softness of youth and had gained bodies
hard as steel. The young man, however, who during this
time practiced obedience, also learned to give commands.
Even by his step, one recognized the trained soldier.
This was the high school of the German nation, and it
was not for nothing that the grim hatred of those who, out
of envy and greed, needed and desired the weakness of the
Reich and the defenselessness of its citizens, was concen-
trated on the army. What many Germans in blindness or
malicious will did not wish to see, the foreign world recog-
nized in the German army; the most powerful weapon in the
service of the freedom of the German nation and the
nourishment of her children.
Added to the State form as well as to the army came, as
the third in the alliance, the incomparable body of officials
of the old Reich.
Germany was the best organized and the best adminis-
tered country in the world. One could well accuse it of
THE CAUSES OF THE COLLAPSE 387
bureaucratic red-tape, but this was no different in all the
other States, even rather worse. But what the other States
did not possess was the wonderful solidarity of this appara-
tus as well as the incorruptible, honest loyalty of its repre-
sentatives. Better to be a little pedantic, but honest and
loyal, rather than enlightened and modern, but inferior of
character, and, as is frequently shown today, ignorant and
incompetent. For, if one likes to pretend that the German
administration of the pre-War time was thought bureau-
cratically genuine, but bad from the business point of view,
to this one can answer only the following: Which land of the
world had a better managed and commercially better or-
ganized administration in her State railways than Ger-
many? It was reserved only for the Revolution to destroy
this model apparatus till finally it appeared ripe to be taken
out of the hands of the nation and to become 'socialized'
in the sense of the founders of this republic; that means,
to serve the international stock exchange capital, the prin-
cipal instigator of the German Revolution.
What thereby distinguished especially the body of Ger-
man officials and the apparatus of administration was its
independence of the various governments whose political
convictions were not able to exercise any influence on the
position of German State officials. Since the Revolution,
however, this has changed thoroughly. The place of com-
petence and ability was taken by party conviction and a
self-reliant and independent character was now an impedi-
ment rather than an advantage.
On the State form, the army and the body of officials
rested the wonderful power and strength of the old Reich.
These were primarily the causes of a quality which the pre-
sent-day State lacks completely: the State authority! For
this does not rest on drivel in the parliaments or diets, and
also not on the laws for their protection, or on court sen-
tences for the frightening of impudent deniers of this au-
388 MEIN KAMPF
thority, but on the general confidence which may and can
be shown in the management and the administration of a
community. But this confidence is in turn only the result
of an unshakable inner conviction of the unselfishness and
the honesty of the government and the administration of a
country as well as of a harmony between the meaning of
the law and general moral views. For, in the long run,
government systems are not held together by the pressure
of force, but rather by the belief in the quality and the
truthfulness with which they represent and promote the
interests of a people.
Therefore, no matter how seriously certain evils of the
pre-War time ate into the inner strength of the nation and
threatened to hollow it out, one must not forget that other
States suffered from these diseases still more than Ger-
many, and that nevertheless in the critical hour of danger
they did not fail and did not perish. But if one considers
that the German weaknesses before the War were balanced
by strong sides which were just as great, then the ultimate
cause for the collapse can and must be found in still an-
other field; and this was also the case.
The deepest and the ultimate cause for the ruin of the
old Reich was found in the non-recognition of the race
problem and its importance for the historical development
of the people. For events in the lives of the nations are not
expressions of chance, but, by the laws of nature, happen-
ings of the urge of self-preservation and propagation of
species and race, even if the people are not conscious of the
inner reasons for their activitv.
CHAPTER XI
NATION AND RACE
are statements of truth which are so obvious
that just for this reason the common world does not
see, or at least does not recognize, them. At times
the world passes these well-known truisms blindly and it is
most astonished if now suddenly somebody discovers what
everybody ought to know. The ' Columbus eggs ' are lying
about by the hundreds of thousands, only the Columbuses
are rarely seen.
Thus, without exception, people wander about in Na-
ture's garden; they think they know almost everything,
and yet, with few exceptions, they walk blindly by one of
the most outstanding principles of Nature's working: the
inner seclusion of the species of all living beings on earth.
Even the most superficial observation shows, as an
almost brazen basic principle of all the countless forms
of expression of Nature's will to live, her limited form of
propagation and increase, limited in itself. Every animal
mates only with a representative of the same species. The
titmouse seeks the titmouse, the finch the finch, the stork
the stork, the field mouse the field mouse, the common
mouse the common mouse, the wolf the wolf, etc.
Only exceptional circumstances can change this; first of
all the compulsion of captivity, as well as any other impos-
390 MEIN KAMPF
sibility of mating within the same species. But then Nature
begins to resist this with the help of all visible means, and
her most visible protest consists either of denying the bas-
tards further procreative faculty, or she limits the fertility
of the coming offspring; but in most cases she takes away
the capacity of resistance against disease or inimical at-
tacks.
This is then only too natural.
Any crossing between two beings of not quite the same
high standard produces a medium between the standards of
the parents. That means: the young one will probably be
on a higher level than the racially lower parent, but not as
high as the higher one. Consequently, it will succumb later
on in the fight against the higher level. But such a mating
contradicts Nature's will to breed life as a whole towards a
higher level. The presumption for this does not lie in blend-
ing the superior with the inferior, but rather in a complete
victory of the former. The stronger has to rule and he is
not to amalgamate with the weaker one, that he may not
sacrifice his own greatness. Only the born weakling can
consider this as cruel, but at that he is only a weak and
limited human being; for, if this law were not dominating,
all conceivable development towards a higher level, on the
part of all organically living beings, would be unthinkable
for man.
The consequence of this purity of the race, generally
valid in Nature, is not only the sharp limitation of the races
outwardly, but also their uniform character in themselves.
The fox is always a fox, the goose a goose, the tiger a tiger,
etc., and the difference can lie, at the most, in the different
measure of strength, force, cleverness, skill, perseverance,
etc., of the various specimens. But there will never be
found a fox which, according to its inner nature, would per-
haps have humane tendencies as regards the geese, nor will
there be a cat with a friendly disposition towards mice.
NATION AND RACE 391
Therefore also, here the fight amongst one another
originates less from reasons of inner aversion than from
hunger and love. In both cases, Nature looks calm and even
satisfied. The fight for daily bread makes all those suc-
cumb who are weak, sickly, and less determined, while the
males' fight for the female gives the right of propagation,
or the possibility of it, only to the most healthy. But the
fight is always a means for the promotion of the species'
health and force of resistance, and thus a cause for its de-
velopment towards a higher level.
If it were different, every further development towards
higher levels would stop, and rather the contrary would
happen. For, since according to numbers, the inferior ele-
ment always outweighs the superior element, under the
same preservation of life and under the same propagating
possibilities, the inferior element would increase so much
more rapidly that finally the best element would be forced
to step into the background, if no correction of this condi-
tion were carried out. But just this is done by Nature, by
subjecting the weaker part to such difficult living conditions
This appeal to the sacred norm of the 'survival of the fittest*
— customary in Pan-German literature — had been resorted
to as well by critics of Socialism. The 'tearful sentimentality'
of the humanitarians, forever attempting to salvage what had
better be left to die, is denounced by Spengler and many others.
But the application of 'fitness' to mating is something else
entirely, deriving from Plato through a number of intermedi-
aries some of whom can be sought out in modern anti-Semitic
literature. There are considerable differences. Thus, Ludwig
Schemann thinks that Nature does not mean the same thing
by 'fitness* that man does, and that therefore any vigorous re-
course to eugenics — except in so far as purely negative matters
(health, etc.) are concerned — would prove impossible and
impractical. Others have gone the whole way and advocated
rigid public regulation of procreation.
392 MEIN KAMPF
that even by this the number is restricted, and finally by
preventing the remainder, without choice, from increasing,
but by making here a new and ruthless choice, according
to strength and health.
Just as little as Nature desires a mating between weaker
individuals and stronger ones, far less she desires the mix-
ing of a higher race with a lower one, as in this case her en-
tire work of higher breeding, which has perhaps taken hun-
dreds of thousands of years, would tumble at one blow. -4-
Historical experience offers countless proofs of this. It
shows with terrible clarity that with any mixing of the
blood of the Aryan with lower races the result was the end
of the culture-bearer. North America, the population of
which consists for the greatest part of Germanic elements —
which mix only very little with the lower, colored races —
displays a humanity and a culture different from those of
Central and South America, where chiefly the Romanic
immigrants have sometimes mixed with the aborigines on a
large scale. By this example alone one may clearly and dis-
tinctly recognize the influence of the race mixture. The
Germanic of the North American continent, who has re-
mained pure and less intermixed, has become the master of
that continent, he will remain so until he, too, falls victim
to the shame of blood-mixing.
f The result of any crossing, in brief, is always the follow-
ing:
(a) Lowering of the standard of the higher race,
(&) Physical and mental regression, and, with it, the be-
ginning of a slowly but steadily progressive lingering ill-
ness.
To bring about such a development means nothing less
than sinning against the will of the Eternal Creator.
This action, then, is also rewarded as a sin.
Man, by trying to resist this iron logic of Nature, be-
comes entangled in a fight against the principles to which
NATION AND RACE 393
alone he, too, owes his existence as a human being. Thus
his attack is bound to lead to his own doom.
Of course, now comes the typically Jewish, impudent,
but just as stupid, objection by the modern pacifist: 'Man
conquers Nature!'
Millions mechanically and thoughtlessly repeat this
Jewish nonsense, and in the end they imagine that they
themselves represent a kind of conqueror of Nature;
whereas they have no other weapon at their disposal but
an 'idea,' and such a wretched one at that, so that accord-
ing to it no world would be conceivable.
But quite apart from the fact that so far man has never
conquered Nature in any affair, but that at the most he gets
hold of and tries to lift a flap of her enormous, gigantic veil
of eternal riddles and secrets, that in reality he does not
'invent' anything but only discovers everything, that he
does not dominate Nature, but that, based on the know-
ledge of a few laws and secrets of Nature, he has risen to
the position of master of those other living beings lacking
The argument has been put another way by Professor Carl
Schmitt (cited by Kolnai) : 'A universal organization in which
there is no place for warlike preservation and destruction of
human life would be neither a State nor an Empire : it would lose
all political character/ Yet this is not Jewish but Christian
teaching that is under criticism. Cardinal Faulhaber, meeting
the objection that the Old Testament is filled with 'hymns of
hate/ responded that Christianity had indeed changed those
hymns into canticles of love, and added: 'There is no alterna-
tive: either we are disciples of Christ, or we lapse into the
Judaism of antiquity with its hymns of hate/ The letter which
the evangelical churches addressed to Hitler in June, 1936,
contained these words: 'When blood, race, creed, nationality
and honor are thus raised to the rank of qualities that guarantee
eternity, the Evangelical Christian is bound, by the first
commandment, to reject the assumption/
394 MEIN KAMPF
this knowledge; but quite apart from this, an idea cannot
conquer the presumptions for the origin and the existence
of mankind, as the idea itself depends only on man. With-
out men there is no human 'idea' in this world; thus the
idea is always caused by the presence of men, and, with it,
of all those laws which created the presumptions for this
existence.
And not only that! Certain ideas are even tied to cer-
tain men. This can be said most of all of just such thoughts
the content of which has its origin, not in an exact scientific
truth, but rather in the world of feeling, or, as one usually
expresses oneself so nicely and 'clearly' today, which re-
flects an 'inner experience.' All these ideas, which have
nothing to do with clear logic in itself, but which represent
mere expressions of feelings, ethical conceptions, etc., are
tied to the existence of those men to whose spiritual force
of imagination and creation they owe their own existence.
But precisely in this case the preservation of these certain
races and men is the presumption for the existence of these
'ideas/ For example, he who actually desires, with all his
heart, the victory of the pacifistic idea in this world would
have to stand up, with all available means, for the
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